Crossroads of Destiny
by iCROWNmikaru
Summary: Penelope was raised and nurtured by Achilles Davenport, expected to be oblivious to the secret war that waged on between the Assassin Brotherhood and Templar Order. However, one day a specific tie changes her life forever; never thinking anything like this would happen, Penelope goes and experiences a journey of a lifetime. One she vows to never forget. [AU]
1. Chapter One: An Uncertain Present

**Author note (important!): Hey guys, this is important things you need to know about this fanfiction. It's an AU. Yes, an Alternate Universe. Now, you ask, but why? What's going to be different about it? Well, Haytham and Connor AREN'T related in this story. They will be around the same age and ****not related in any way what-so-ever. **** Another major thing: Achilles was ****originally born in 1710, but in this fanfiction he's born in 1690.**** That's… basically it. Everything else will catch on, on its own. Now that everything is cleared, I shall let you read this wonderful story that is about to unfold [beware of spoilers]. Enjoy, and if you get confused at any point about relations and need a reminder, just come back to this little author note or just ask in a PM. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or story plot of Assassin`s Creed.**

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Chapter One: An Uncertain Present

Achilles POV:

In all the years of my life, the spring of 1728 was something I was bound to never forget. That night was accompanied by a horrible storm that seemed to never end, roaring through the sky and showing its power and might. I thought it was a normal storm, but it ended up changing my life: forever.

I was writing down the observations of individuals around the area into a huge, almost-empty book when I thought I heard the crashing of thunder from outside; thinking it was just the usual weather, I continued on. It wasn't the case, no. Not long after had I heard the faint sound of sobs and cries from outside, which made myself think I surely was losing my dogs ears. Insisting to ignore it, the writing of the quill I grasped continued, but surely after many moments had I come to doubt my assumptions. There was crying, and I had to figure out why I was hearing such a thing in such dreadful weather. Rising from the old chair I was sitting in, I wandered my way down towards the front door, following the continuous sobs that wouldn't cease to come to an end, only to hesitate before grasping the knob in front of me. I had thought, what would I do if it was someone dying on the ground before me? What if it were a trap by the savaged Templars?

None the less, I took my chances and abruptly opened the door only to see nothing in front of me. It confused me for a second until I heard the cries coming from the ground; a small child, not even a year of age, was crying in a small basket. It was obvious the baby had been dying from the awful cold weather, I had to do something, so I did: I took the child into my manor. The youngling was about ten or so months into life, weeping its lungs out, and freezing to death; I did what I knew was needed to be done at that moment and warmed the child up so it would calm and have a chance at life once more.

The child ended up to be a girl with pale snow skin and very dark hair, possibly black. I hadn't known what colour it would end up when she was to grow older in age. Her cries had ceased by now and I took a closer obversavtion of her once she opened her eyes and moved her hands towards my face. She had luminous hazel eyes; I knew they were to be a beauty when she was to mature. Who ever had left her at my door step at least took the damn consideration to give her some clothing, thank them for that. It was a sweater that had odd symbols all around, as if made from a Native tribe not far from here. _Very strange_, I thought, since the girl hadn't looked like she was from **Native** decent. Either way, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life then and there. I couldn't leave the child to die, and I certainly couldn't let her be tainted by the poison of some other people who hadn't deserved a frail human as her, so I would raise her myself. I would raise her to be a brave, wonderful woman; she would learn the ways of an Assassin to be able to defend herself; oblivious to its true nature and intentions.

"_Penelope_… Yes, that shall be your name, child."

* * *

By the age of twelve years old, Penelope had grown into a very skilled girl; she had many abilities and knew just about all I could teach her. My life over this amount of time had grown very lively due to her, and I had become grateful that I found her all those years ago, crying in the rain. When she was the age of ten, I had learned where her sweater had come from: she had a Mohawk parent who had gave it to her. No one knew whether it be the mother or father, but the villagers kept telling me she was half British due to some of her characteristics, and wasn't full-blooded. I didn't press further; it was in the past, and what is there, stays there. The knowledge of her birth being park Mohawk gave her the opportunity to learn the tongue they spoke: she was a fast learner and very persistent. I had not stopped her, I was proud, and wanted her to be happy.

"Father, why don't you learn it with me?" she asked one day, and I just laughed in return; she was silly, that was for sure. Thinking a man like me and of my age could learn such a complicated language. Around this part of her life, Penelope spent a lot of time away in the Native village, learning new things and making new friends, always coming back home with a smile on her face and something to show me. One day, she came to show me how to climb trees, and the next; she tried to catch a deer. Her ability to climb along the branches of all the trees around the area was impressing, but I expected none the less from an extraordinary daughter like I believed she was.

When it came to her trying to catch a deer for me, Penelope didn't do too well. Instead of catching a deer, she got chased by a flock of angry birds from making the entire ruckus to catch the deer. It was a good laugh, it really was, but she hadn't thought so. As she said, 'it was an embarrassment'. As long as she tried, I had told her.

* * *

The time seemed to go by so fast, and it seemed just like the other day she was that helpless child who had no path made out in her life, but once she was the age of eighteen, she was a beautiful young woman. By then, she had met a very close friend of hers, Ratonhnhaké:ton. I never met the boy, and still haven't, but she says he is a good teacher when it comes to hunting and searching for things. Ever since her many mistakes from when she first learned to hunt, to that day, she had been trying to improve to show me she could do it. If she had learned something on her own from being raised in my household, it was her willingness to never stop trying; a quality I didn't have much of myself.

No matter, she had learned to grow and become a luminous star like I had perceived, and I have been proud of her since the start. Seeing me as a real father; that was what made me the happiest out of all the experiences with this child, really.

Though, something I hadn't really been able to control was something that was a real trouble at times.

Penelope was probably the most **stubborn** person I have known in my _entire_ lifetime.

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**Well intros are to be short, so chapter two will be longer, no worries. Thank you for reading ! I appreciate the love. Haha.  
**

** See you all in chapter two!  
**


	2. Chapter Two: Welcome to Boston

**Author's note: Wonderful, a good start. (: I'm happy people are starting to like this, and I appreciate the follows and reviews! Chapter updates won't be daily, but every few days for the regular school schedule; since it's Thanksgiving break the updates will be faster, so 'yay!' for that!**

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which slightly alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

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Chapter two: Welcome to Boston

_1753, present day_

"Father, I'm going to Kanatahséton now!" the call of a young woman was heard from up the stairs of the Davenport manor. Achilles was able to hear his daughter, Penelope, rushing down the old wooden stairs from in the hallway, obviously excited to go out onto her daily adventures, "Be sure to be back by lunch time, Penelope, I have some errands for you!" he said in a raised voice, heading towards the hall to catch up with Penelope before she was to be off into the wilderness, "Don't you dare forget!" he added, seeing the female look over her shoulder him with a disapproving expression; she didn't like going on errands and she obviously didn't want to come back at mid-day.

Although, all she did was sigh and wave at her father as if she didn't make it all a big deal, "Alright, alright. I'll return when the sun hits mid-day, don't you worry!" she promised before giving a final good-bye, running off into the early morning. The morning fog was still lingering about, so Penelope was out of sight within the few meters; Achilles just sighed as she left, closing the front door since she hadn't, "What a wild child…"

* * *

The cracks and stomps of tree branches actively moving about echoed through the forests of the Frontier as the sun in the distance started to slowly rise. Penelope was heading to Kanatahséton as fast as her two legs could bring her, a smile plastered onto her oval shaped head. She heard the roaming of the elk and deer running about and even the morning noises of a pack of wolves competing with one another in a field she passed by while on her morning route to the Native village. She was almost there, and her smile seemed to get bigger at the thought of seeing Ratonhnhaké:ton again; their friendship had grown over the past seven years, and now it was imperishable.

Once Penelope arrived on the outskirts of Kanatahséton, she jumped off the tree branch she was on and landed in a tightly packed area of bushes to hide; she heard Ratonhnhaké:ton's voice not far off from where she was. The female saw her best friend actually coming out of the Native village she was just about to enter, and a very childish smirk appeared on her lips as she tried to contain a laugh. _I'll definitely sneak up on him this time! _She thought with confidence. Penelope had excellent abilities when it came to following or sneaking up on people, but when she wasn't concentrated… it was an entirely different story. Achilles would always scold her, telling her to concentrate if she didn't want to end up dead when sneaking up on certain people and she had to always be on her toes. When it came to sneaking up on Ratonhnhaké:ton in the past, Penelope was always a screw up; not taking her sneak attack seriously and always getting caught. Not today, she was confident she'd take him by surprise this time.

She crept through the bushes she hid in as quietly as possible and tried to tail Ratonhnhaké:ton, who was walking up the dirt path casually, but tripped and ended up landing half-way out in the open. _Crap! I hope he didn't hear that! _She panicked, trying to hide and catch up with him again; Ratonhnhaké:ton did hear Penelope and just acted as if he didn't, and continued to walk. He watched a few rabbits pass by, and as Penelope closed in on him, he slowed his pace and tried to contain a small smile as his dark hues shifted to the side her noise was coming from. "Ahhh!" Penelope cried, jumping from the bushes to tackle the male; she had him! - Or not. Penelope was grabbed by the wrist and flipped over onto her back, slamming the dark dirt ground only to see her darker skinned friend smirking at her.

"Better luck next time, Penelope," Ratonhnhaké:ton said in his native tongue, causing Penelope to groan as she stared up at him with a troubled expression. The expression, however, faded as she turned over onto her side and quickly picked herself up onto her two feet again, wiping all the dirt off her. Penelope was wearing black, warm, and baggy pants made from a nice bear pelt that she received from one of her friends in the Native village that seemed to never wear away; it was her favorite piece of clothing that was for sure. The female also had her black, mukluk made boots that seemed to blend with her pants from the shade similarity, and a dark brown, soft tunic with a white circle painted on her chest that was fairly small. She wore a traditional bracelet from the tribe on one wrist with a bracelet Ratonhnhaké:ton had given her in the past, and a bracelet from Achilles on the other wrist.

She certainly did look like a Mohawk girl besides her pale white skin complexion, but everyone treated her as part of the tribe either way; she was one of them, and Penelope was proud. After Penelope dusted herself off, she walked up to Ratonhnhaké:ton and flicked him on the forehead, causing him to slightly glare at her, "I'll get you next time, for sure!" she said with confidence before just giving her friend a small smile, "Whatever, let's just get our hunt for the morning, and see how well you do it this time, alright?" Ratonhnhaké:ton said in response, walking along the path again.

Penelope just followed after, not saying a word since she didn't want to mess up, but Ratonhnhaké:ton had just continued speaking, "We'll go after the rabbit over there," he said, pointing to a rabbit up hill, "The shot must be quick. The kill clean. This rabbit is a gift, and we must return nature's kindness with our own," he explained quietly, unsheathing his bow before drawing his bow back and making a shot. The rabbit was killed at an instant, and Penelope was impressed, as always, and smiled wide as she shot her arms in the air in victory. Ratonhnhaké:ton let her do as she wished, but continued his teaching for the day, "Take the time to aim, Penelope. A missed shot will startle your prey and end the hunt." "You had a perfect short!" Penelope said in return as the two headed to the dead kill.

"It's your turn. Skin it," Ratonhnhaké:ton said, standing by the rabbit and staring at her, only to make Penelope nervous. She had never done a successful skin of any animal in years, so she expected this to be the same after Ratonhnhaké:ton has told her many times how to skin, "Quick cuts. Steady and certain, it's not just the meat we want. We want the skin as well, and to act in haste will spoil the bounty. Penelope, just relax and take your time with your decisions."

Penelope took in a sharp breath, exhaling through her nostrils before taking out her knife and deciding how to cut the creature. Once she took a chance and cut it, Ratonhnhaké:ton started to give her quiet instructions under his breath, watching her movements and making sure she was doing everything correctly. "Good, you have been improving," he said once Penelope finished. It wasn't the _best _skinning in the world, but it was getting there. Penelope actually took her time and followed direction, which in turn got her to do well, "I did it!" she exclaimed before hugging her friend with a broad smile, "I finally did it!" she repeated before pulling away, "You have skinned an animal well, but can you hunt, Penelope? Can you set a snare for small creatures?" Ratonhnhaké:ton questioned as an eyebrow peaked on his face.

Confidence – shot down. Penelope's expression dropped from her confidence all the way to a negative level, but just ended up sticking a tongue out at him, "I can! Watch me!" she said before walking off to another area of the forest,

"Uhm... Well... First we have to find a place where animals are to... gather," Penelope started, trying to show the male who was following her that she knew how to set a snare and how to hunt an animal. A difficulty she encountered involved her trying to remember past lessons; she failed so much, she couldn't today! She already failed at trying to sneak up on her friend; she had to make up for it. "So... a burrow or a feeding spot," she muttered under her breath, finding an area by a tree that she figured hares gathered at.

Ratonhnhaké:ton followed the female casually, playing with the sheathed bow around him by pulling on it and plucking the string a few times for the fun of it. Eventually, his walking ceased since Penelope found a good spot for small animals to gather and eat. The next challenge: she had to set up a snare. It took steady five or so minutes for Penelope to figure out how to set up the trap, but eventually got it. In the meantime, Ratonhnhaké:ton set up his own within seconds, and sighed a bit as he saw her ready for the next step in their hunt.

"Well done," he said, seeing her amateur-made snare, "Let us try for bigger game while we wait. Since you have said you know what you're doing, lead the way." "Alright, then let us go," Penelope paused, turning and pointing in a new direction, "That way!" she exclaimed before rushing through bushes. Ratonhnhaké:ton kept up with her, wondering if she really did know what she was doing, and just went along with it. Oddly enough, in the matter of seconds, Penelope spotted a deer not far by. She knew her clues.

Even though she seemed to know what she was doing, and actually seemed to remember advice from past lessons and hunts, Ratonhnhaké:ton still felt he had to tell her more things she had to know, "Arrows and musket shot will ruin the hide, take this one with your hands," he said quietly as they crept through the bushes. Penelope just stopped, looked behind her at the male, and gave him a look that was a weird as she was; an odd, disturbing look as if she was saying 'I know what I'm doing, deal with it!'

Penelope knew the deer would flee if it saw the two, so she was being as quiet and un-detected as possible; she was completely concentrated, but barely remembered she needed bait to get the deer close enough. It hurt her head to remember all these things Ratonhnhaké:ton had been telling her for the past few years, but she tried her best anyway, and threw the bait onto the ground. The deer was un-phased at first, but once it smelt the bait, it started to loom towards Penelope and Ratonhnhaké:ton. Once it was close enough, Penelope attacked and killed it with her hands.

"A clean kill, well done!" Ratonhnhaké:ton exclaimed, seeing she had accomplished something she's always wanted to accomplish. Penelope was a bit shocked she finally was able to catch an animal, and just smiled, standing up and completely forgetting she had to skin it still, "Look, Ratonhnhaké:ton, I did it! I really, finally, after all this time caught a damn animal!" she shouted before Ratonhnhaké:ton just skinned the dead animal himself. He could tell they had enough for one day since Penelope was getting overly-confident. He knew it wouldn't go well.

* * *

After a day of hunting, playing a few games in the forest with friends, and just racing up trees, Ratonhnhaké:ton and Penelope ended up in their favorite place. It was up on the mountain tops where the highest trees were, the ones that overlooked the valley. The two had that area as their meeting place when they couldn't find one another; it was also a symbol of their friendship, a place where only they would come and talk to one another. "So, today is fun, is it not?" Ratonhnhaké:ton asked, watching the valley below them; the two were sitting in one of the trees on the common branch they'd sit at, "It is. How about later we go have a wrestling competition?" Penelope suggested in an upbeat tone, looking at the male beside her with a smile.

Ratonhnhaké:ton just shrugged; he didn't really want to say that much, "We should go eat, it's almost past one o'clock, it seems," he said, looking up at the sky before back at the female; confusion filled inside of him as he saw her terrified expression, "_Shit!_ I forgot, I have to go, Achilles will have my head!" she exclaimed loudly, jumping from the tree, "I'll see you later, I have to go!" and with that, the female was gone and into the depths of the forests below faster than he was even able to think of his next phrase. Ratonhnhaké:ton just sighed and smiled a bit; at least they had a great time before hand.

Penelope ran as fast as she could back to Davenport manor, and before she was even up the hill, she saw Achilles standing outside by the front door, staring at her with a disappointed expression, "I'm here, I'm here! I'm really sorry, Father, I didn't keep track of time!" Penelope breathed, coming up to him. Achilles didn't respond and just stared at her; Penelope knew he was disappointed by the expression she saw on his aged face. All he did was hand her a list of things he needed from Boston, "Here, you are to go to Boston and pick up these items. I expect you to be home by supper, and _on time, _Penelope. Do I make myself clear this time?" he explained, causing Penelope to look down at her toes; she felt bad, but then sighed, looking back up at the older man, "Do I have to go today? Boston is so far, and I _really_ don't want to go do errands!" "You will do what I say, now go," Achilles said in a strict tone, only to get a loud groan from her daughter in return before she lazily turned around and headed down the trail again.

"You better stay out of trouble, do you hear me?" Achilles called out. Penelope just waved, not turning back and went on her way. Her legs drug her body down the marked paths towards Boston, and she seemed to take her sweet time, enjoying the scenery. Hare crossed her path with fox chasing after, but nothing seemed to bother her and her mourning over going to Boston. Boston seemed to never impress her; all the odd people and British soldiers irritated her, but many were well-mannered-maybe that was the problem. They had always said in whispers to one another how Penelope was very _ill-mannered _and seemed to have no idea how to behave to people when buying items and speaking to local farmers.

She tried her best, but Penelope never learned… _proper _educate. Achilles attempted to teach her, but she didn't listen; the girl was as stubborn as a mule. "Why do I have to do this? This is stupid, why doesn't the old man go buy his own things? Just because I'm his daughter doesn't mean _I_ have to be the one doing all the shopping!" she ranted to herself as she continued her journey to the busy town. Instead of proper manners, Penelope seemed to develop the ability of self-narrating herself out loud to the world; ranting out loud instead of in thought, and saying whatever she pleased whenever she wanted.

Eventually, the female came to the outskirts of Boston and came to hear the faint sounds of drummers for groups of British troops. She eventually passed them buy and just smiled and waved to them, not wanting to cause trouble; many people knew of her troublesome acts around these parts, especially in Central Boston where all the angry merchants seemed to be at. "Okay, Penelope, this will be quick. Just get what Father needs, and I'll be heading home in no time! No harm done, right?" she asked herself, looking at the list of things Achilles needed. Her first stop was at the harbour where fish was being sold; she was bad at picking out good fish, so she took her time looking.

"...Boston's quite a lively city." Under all the murmurs and noises of the area, that voice seemed to ring out the most. Penelope turned her head and saw two men walking past her towards the inner part of Boston. Her curiosity peaked, and she seemed to ponder on whether to follow or not. She looked back at her list of things, and then followed after the two men while she stuffed the list into her back pocket. _It won't do any hard, I'll be back by supper_, she assured herself.

"There's all manner of things to see and do. Once you've settled in, I suggest you take some time to walk the streets. Who knows what opportunities you might discover," the second man told the first. Penelope was on their tail, trying to stay undetected, and wondered if the first man was knew. The first man had a navy blue coloured tri-corn hat with a black cape draped over his shoulders that had an odd design on the back. Penelope figured his jacket was also a navy blue, but that's basically all she could catch from the back.

She noticed his brown boots that seemed to be of some sort of leather, and that the man had his hair tied up with a red ribbon. It peaked her interest to know who he was. The other looked fairly more like he was from the colonies; hair tied up and a jacket that would be some shade of dark grey. Penelope didn't pay much attention to him, "Hold a moment, I need to fetch a few things before we get to work," the first man declared, only to get a response from the other that he'd arrange horses in the meantime.

The two men split, and Penelope saw the first man speed his pace up as he seemed to be heading to the general store; a place she needed to go to. Penelope went into the open and caught up with the British man (so she assumed), and tried to blend in with the public so he wouldn't notice her unruly ravish stalking. That was when her quickened pace almost got her caught; the man had slowed down abruptly and almost spotted her. She quickly blend in with the few by the general store and saw an older man complaining aloud.

"Damned sprigs! This accursed city will be the death of me..." "You seemed troubled, friend," Penelope heard the man she was following, say. She had also noticed the Asian-looking man catch up with him once more. "That's because I am. Greatly so, in fact," he said, walking a bit as the two men watched this other. The one who was troubled wore glasses and had his hair back and out of his face, "I was robbed. The old bulk and file... and though I've managed to restore what's mine, I fear it's ruined," he explained, "You mean the book?" "This is no ordinary book!" he exclaimed, hitting the book he was holding a bit, "It's an Almanac. The first I ever wrote."

"... This is getting boring," Penelope mused under her breath, not even listening anymore. She decided it was a waste of time; her hopes had gotten up so high for nothing. So, she left the crowd of normal folk, and headed into the general store to get the things she needed.

As Penelope was in the store, she seemed to miss what was important: the man's name. "Benjamin Franklin. Nice to meet you," the man with the ruined almanac said, holding out his hand. The man with the tri-corn hat smiled a tad, and shook Benjamin's hand, "Haytham Kenway." "You must be new to Boston," Benjamin remarked, pointing at him with a small smile, "Why do you say that?" Haytham asked, "You're still possessed of virtue. To stop and help an old lout like myself... I.. I don't mean to impose, but... you seem like a spry fellow. Should you happen to find my missing pages, I'll reward you" "Look I'm not sure if-" Haytham tried to respond before Benjamin lifted his hands and gave an expression as if it was not a worry.

"It's alright, alright. If you have the time, hurrah," he said with not much enthusiasm, "If not - no harm done. The thing is useless in its current state anyway. But should you somehow manage to restore it, you'll find me inside the general store over there." and with that, Benjamin Franklin was on his way. Haytham Kenway watched the older man be on his way, then slowly looked over at his accomplice, Charles Lee, "Well, that was interesting..." he mused before taking another look back. He pondered on the recent even that had happened, then looked back at Charles and gave a slight nod; he was to go finish his errand and head to the general store.

As if timing decided everything was to go its way, and not Penelope's way, as soon as she left the general store with the items she needed, Mister Haytham Kenway had just entered the store on the other side. Penelope was holding the boxes of things and had everything Achilles needed except for the fish. The thought seemed to disappear from the very depths of her mind, so Penelope just started heading back to the Davenport manor without it. "Well, I should be home in time," she said to herself, still thinking of that… strange man she saw. She was so curious about him, especially if he was new to Boston!

Penelope tossed the boxes she was holding a bit so she could shift her arms in a different way to hold the boxes, and headed out of Boston; the boxes weighed so much! She didn't understand why Achilles needed so many things; was he cooking a feast and making a new table for it all? Penelope didn't see the reason for all the items he asked for, but she didn't really care enough to ask about it when she was to get home. She was right on the spot, home exactly at supper time on the front doorstep. Achilles opened the door once he heard her bang on the door with her foot, and smiled a bit as she dropped everything in the middle of the hallway, "Thank you for being on time, child," he thanked before Penelope smiled and scratched the back of her head in a slightly embarrassed fashion, "No big deal, I figured I should be on time since I disappointed you earlier," she said as if she meant to be on time; it just happened to be like that. Penelope couldn't care less about timing. Achilles just smiled a bit and reached up to mess up her hair but she quickly ran off up the stairs to go wash up for supper. That was when an idea came to her mind, "Oh!" she exclaimed, turning around to look back at Achilles who was counting all the items she brought back, "Father, I was wondering if you're okay with me going to Boston tomorrow," she brought up, biting her lip a bit.

Achilles didn't look up; he didn't even seem phased by the question, "Go wash up and we'll talk about it over dinner, Penelope."

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**Even at an older age of twenty-five, Penelope is still like a child. Chapter two and Haytham is in Boston! Guess Penelope thinks his appearance is rather new, and wants to learn more. I hope this ended up well; reviews, yes? I would appreciate it(:**

**See you all in chapter three!**


	3. Chapter Three: Stealth

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which slightly alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

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Chapter Three: Stealth

_Achilles didn't look up; he didn't even seem phased by the question, "Go wash up and we'll talk about it over dinner, Penelope."_

Penelope and Achilles were in the dining room sitting at the long table eating dinner; the both of them on the opposite ends of the table since Penelope had refused to sit on the sides and not on the end of the table, "You forgot to get the fish I requested," Achilles brought up in a soft tone, causing Penelope to just look down at her bowl of food. The two were eating stew that night from the potatoes, carrots, and meat Penelope had brought back from Kanatahséton a couple of days back. She didn't say anything, which made Achilles stop eating and look at her, "Penelope?" he said aloud, seeing her slowly look up at him.

"I forgot, I'm sorry, Father." Was all she said after a long awkward silence, until her hand gripped the spoon she held a bit tighter, "Father," she brought up, "About going to Boston; can I go tomorrow? I would get you your fish while there," she pressed; Penelope wasn't letting this subject drop. "Penelope, it's too dangerous; I was troubled just letting you get a few things for the manor, how could I possibly let you into the city just for fun? I know all you will cause is trouble—" "Trouble? Is that it? I'm going to go to Boston to cause trouble!? Why would I go there just to do that when I could do that here? Why don't you _trust _me?" Penelope asked, raising her voice; her temper was getting the best of her, and it was clear by the troubled and conflicted expression on her face.

Achilles's face dropped a bit as he heard the emotion in the female's voice, and insisted otherwise, "Penelope, I didn't mean that like that in any wa—" "No, I don't want to hear it," Penelope stopped him, getting up and taking her food. She had lost her appetite, slammed the chair back into the table, and stomped off into the kitchen area; she left her bowl of food there and Achilles was able to hear his daughter stomp up the stairs to her room to be left alone. Once the slamming of a door was heard from upstairs, the manor shook a bit with a book falling to the ground from its place on a shelf; Achilles had sighed to the results and rubbed his temples, "Sometimes I wonder how old she really is…" he breathed before continuing his meal. Achilles would let her be so she could cool off.

* * *

Penelope was over-reacting; something she never took the consideration to control. She was throwing her pillows around her room, ranting amongst herself, and blowing up, "I can't believe he'd think I'd cause trouble! I'm the most polite, obedient girl out there!" she yelled, but then suddenly completely got composed; her expression turned into a blunt face as she tried to impersonate someone else talking back to her, "Actually, Penelope, you have no manners and are trying to follow some fellow you don't know," she said aloud before groaning and falling backwards onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling with a thoughtful, troubled expression before she started to wander off into her thoughts. Silence filled the room, but was suddenly interrupted since she abruptly sat up and gasped, smiling widely, "That's it!" she exclaimed in a quiet whisper, looking about the smaller looking room with barely anything accompanying around. Penelope listened to her surroundings and to what she may hear from where she was; she heard Achilles coughing from downstairs, _probably still eating, _she thought before hearing the nature from outdoors.

The female rose from her bed and quietly lingered across her room; she was as skillful as an Assassin sneaking about the shadows, fully concentrated and in her game. She picked up her weapons and put on her boots as quietly as possible, headed to the window, and looked back over her shoulder. Taking another listen, Penelope heard nothing from Achilles downstairs, and just assumed it would be a smooth escape; she unlocked her window, opened the hatch, and climbed out onto the nearby tree branch. Once in the outdoors, she got away as fast as possible; Penelope couldn't afford getting caught by Achilles, escaping out at this hour to go elsewhere, "Just gotta' get away from here as fast as possible," she breathed to herself, jumping from branch to branch; she was heading to Kanatahséton for the night.

Her journey was slick and quiet; no trouble came her way, and she avoided all the predators of the night that lingered about in the darkness that enveloped around her. Eventually, after a long walk down the path entering Kanatahséton, Penelope came through the entrance of the village towards Ratonhnhaké:ton's hut, but didn't need to go that far into the village before she actually saw Ratonhnhaké:ton with a few familiar faces around the main fire. She walked up to them and waved to the others who smiled and waved in return, but once Ratonhnhaké:ton noticed and turned to see her, he got up and they headed out of the village.

"Why are you here so late, Penelope?" Ratonhnhaké:ton asked, staring at her as they walked farther away from the village, "Where else would I go? I got in a small argument with my father because I couldn't go to Boston the coming day, then decided to leave and go anyway. I can't just go there now, where I have no where to stay," she explained, looking up at him, "This was the next option." "I see. What is your reason for going to Boston?" he asked as the two of them un-noticeably headed towards their favorite look out tree up on the highest area of the valley, "Personal matters, I suppose. My father said I would just get in trouble, but I think he's just being a dad," Penelope mused before Ratonhnhaké:ton chuckled, "You do have the tendency to cause a ruckus." "You do too." Penelope snapped as they sat down on the ground, leaning against their favorite tree they had marked up with knives they used to practice with.

"Achilles… he isn't your real father. There is no resemblance between the two of you, and the old man seems to be unlike you in all ways," Ratonhnhaké:ton brought up before Penelope shrugged a bit, "My _parents _abandoned me when I was born; they didn't want me. I learned that when I was starting to realize I look completely the opposite of the man who had raised me. It's not a big deal, though; I see him as my real birth father, even though he is of a different colour and family," Penelope explained briefly; she always got at least slightly uncomfortable when it came to speaking about her family. Ratonhnhaké:ton didn't press any further, and they just spoke about the stars and spirits, making jokes, and just enjoying each other's company. Eventually, Penelope fell asleep; she was exhausted, and Ratonhnhaké:ton didn't notice her sleeping until he felt her lean against him on his shoulder.

"…And that's why the spirit is the most—" he paused, seeing the frail girl beside him softly breathing, leaning against him and entering a world of fantasy and dreams; it brought a smile upon his lips, she was so careless to fall asleep in a place of wilderness like this. Ratonhnhaké:ton was tired just as well, and thought it wouldn't do harm to close his eyes to rest as well.

The two ended up being both asleep by the tree and under the stars for the night.

* * *

Penelope's POV:

_-I heard screams of suffering, betrayal, and fear. They wouldn't stop as a sharp pain was felt in my chest. No, I can't die! 'No, I believe you can choose the right thing! Stop doing this!' I shouted; I had no idea what was going on. I couldn't see, it was all a blur; someone was in front of me until I was shot in the fac- - _

"Ahhh!" I couldn't breathe; I sat up as fast as I could as soon as I came to reality and felt my face. Good, I was alive and **not** _shot into oblivion_. My panic seemed to dissipate since as soon as I woke up I couldn't feel anything, but I then felt that… warm feeling beside me. I turned my head to the side to see Ratonhnhaké:ton sleeping right beside my form like a child; he was always so… innocent looking when he slept, like he wasn't harmful at all. I knew the truth to that, though. He was lying down with his arm barely on my leg; I assumed it was around me completely before I had an episode when I woke up.

It was day; I had to get to Boston to have as much time as possible there, if I was going to make getting in trouble worthwhile. I tried to get up without waking Ratonhnhaké:ton up, but that seemed to fail me since I saw his dark eyes looking at me with a blank expression once I turned to look at him again before slipping away. "Where are you going?" he asked in a groggy tone, obviously still waking up. As he rubbed his eyes and sat up, I sighed and messed up his long hair, ruining his tie in the back, "I'm heading to Boston, like I said." "Wait, take this with you. I don't want you getting into a mess without anything to back you up," my friend insisted, digging into a pocket, taking out a pouch of money and holding it out to me. I was going to resist, but knowing his attitude, he'd force me in the end to take it.

So, I took the pouch and smiled, putting it away in safe keeping, "Thank you. I'll pay you anything back, if I use any money," I told him before hugging him. I felt his arms go around me, and it caused my embrace to tighten; I felt as if I was leaving him for a long time, and I was going to miss him dearly. Taking the intoxicating smell of my closest friend, he eventually pulled away and insisted I be on my way before I waste more time than what was needed. Even though it'd only be a matter of hours, maybe a day or two, before I'd see him again, I still knew I'd miss that natural, fresh, and alluring smell from him. Well, let's sum this down: basically his whole presence. Ratonhnhaké:ton was my only _true_ friend here, and I would never let him go.

"Don't do anything fun without me, alright?" I teased, smirking before I got up to my feet and headed towards Boston, taking the dirt trail that led most of the way there, "Alright, be safe, Penelope! Don't cause too much trouble, and don't get in anyone's way!" I could hear him call after; I was already too far, and I realized I was actually _excited _to get to Boston. I didn't know why, or what could cause me to be so… excited, but I assumed it was just that adventure I felt that came with it. I wasn't entirely familiar with Boston, but all of my encounters there have been interesting (including my experience getting in trouble 90% of the time with the soldiers, but that's different) and filled with something new. Not knowing what would come to me this time, or how it would come, I just felt… good about it. Splendid, really. The way to Boston wasn't long; I avoided all possible threats of wildlife like the annoying bobcats and wolves around by climbing the trees, and didn't disturb the peaceful environment the deer and elk had in their area of the Frontier.

* * *

Once arrived in Boston, the first place I went to were the markets; I was hungry, and actually thankful Ratonhnhaké:ton wanted me to take money with me. I had bought myself a small bowl of pudding from a local family who was selling it for the day, and I swear it was _fucking good_! My walk around Boston while eating did get me thinking, though, about the night before, "God… Father is going to **kill me** for leaving out like that, and on top of it: I disobeyed him!" Great. I just hoped that I was going to have an interesting day and the punishment would be worth it, but so far all I was doing was a normal action: walking around Boston like a normal peasant while eating pudding I got for a cheap price.

-Or so I thought. I ended up being a clumsy fool and bumped into a very burly man, falling backwards and throwing my pudding into the air. It went all over the man as soon as he turned around; all over his face which made a scowl appear on his face, "Uhm… sorry?" I squeaked, trying to muster an innocent smile. By the way he seemed to glare at me, I take it he didn't feel too appreciated that I split that all over him and even bumped into him, "You think you're **funny**, bumping into me and spilling your lunch on my face!?" he roared, which caused me to fumbled to my two feet and shake my head, "No, no! Not at all, I'm very sorry, here, I'll fix it for you!" Bad idea. I ended up making it worse by trying to wipe off the mess with _his _sleeve, only to get an angry growl from him, "Even though you are a woman, I'm sure you deserve a beating! Prepare to be smashed by the toughest Boston Brawler in existence!" and with that, he threw that first punch.

I avoided it as swiftly as possible, tumbling onto the ground and coming up behind him, but I knew he was going to be trouble.

More so when his little thugs joined him.

No one's POV:

Four tough and buff men, the Boston Brawlers, against a small girl who seemed to have no clue what her direction in life was. Certainly, Penelope had no idea where her life would take her, but she certainly knew she wasn't going to lose against people like _them_. A piece of her character Achilles was always proud about: her competitive edge. He certainly wouldn't approve of fighting or beating others up when it wasn't really needed, but when it came to contests on who can do things better, Penelope always tried her best to be on top even when she was to lose almost all the time.

The men kept throwing punches at Penelope, trying to get her to fight back, but so far all she was doing was avoiding the attacks; she needed an opening. "_Remember, Penelope, strike at the precise moment, and you will defeat your opponent without struggle." _She took her father's words and as soon as one Brawler was about to hit her, Penelope stopped his arm and lifted him above her and smashed him as soon as he landed face first on the ground behind her. She kicked him a few times, knocking him unconscious before another Brawler latched out at her, "Take this!" he yelled. To no avail, Penelope grabbed him and punched him multiple times in the stomach, then in the face, causing him to stumble back onto the ground in defeat.

Within the next minute, the third man was down and it was the original angry male versus Penelope, "Bring it on, little girl! I can take you!" he taunted, waiting for Penelope to be on the offensive, "As you wish!" Penelope charged at the taller male, but before he was able to attack her, she slid under him and turned around as soon as she got behind him and received the upper hand – knocking him out in the matter of seconds. Once the event calmed down, Penelope could see British redcoats heading in her direction_, Damn, time to skadoodle! _That was her sign, and Penelope took it as she ran the opposite direction, down into the alley ways of the city.

* * *

She went a long way, walking all around the place; North, Central, and even southern Boston, and all in good time. Eventually, Penelope found herself in the south-western area of Boston and happened to see that all familiar man again, and with that accomplice of his. They seemed to be walking over the man she saw on the fence by the corn field, _this is my lucky day_! She smiled; she was glad her excitement for coming to Boston wasn't over nothing. Penelope made her way into the corn field and hid, watching and waiting; she heard their voices, and seemed to pay close attention to their conversation.

"Thomas Hickey?" she heard the man with the tri-corn hat ask the one who was on the fence, "Whose askin'?" "Haytham Kenway." That was his name! Haytham Kenway; he seemed to be of high class, Penelope guessed. Certainly not from Boston, and she knew it, "Is that s'pposed to mean somethin'?" "Show some respect, boy," Penelope saw Haytham's accomplice bark, "Peace, Charles. William Johnson sent us in the hopes we might... expedite your search."

Hmm... So the other was Charles. Penelope was glad she was following this Mister Kenway guy, "Don't need no expidittin' - don't need none of your fance London-speak, either. I've found the men done the theft." "Then why are you just lazing around?" Charles pressed, causing Thomas's expression to change as he looked at the other male, "Figgerin' out how to deal wit those varlets," he muttered, nodding his head in the direction of a fort where men were stationed at.

"I have an idea," Penelope heard Haytham say as he looked at the scene infront of him, "Well let's 'ear it." "I'll kill the lookout and take up position behind the guards. You two approach from the front. When I open fire on the group, you charge in. We'll have the element of surprise on our side. Half will fall before they've even realized what's happened." and with that, Haytham took his way into the cornfield to stay out of sight of the lookout.

Penelope was near his route and realized she would get spotted if he was an observant fellow, so she tried hidding in the corn more. Her noise caused Haytham to pause in his tracks, but he continued onward within the second. That second was the worst part of Penelope's day, though; she was almost caught, something she was terrified about. A gun shot was heard not long after the small episode, and Penelope heard Haytham telling his other two cronies to wait for him to take the first shot of their plan.

In moments, the three men were gone, and Penelope was left with shooting heard from the area; she sighed and just waited, "Guess I'll just wait here," she told herself, moving position to the easiest place to see the fort so she'd know when they'd come out. Though, she had to be careful and make sure she wasn't spotted.

* * *

"Aww, why you always got ta go an spoil the sport?" Penelope heard from a distance; Mister Haytham, Charles, and... Thomas Hickey, she recalled, were coming back. The Charles character was holding a chest of some sort, and the other two were holding muskets as if to defend the chest,_ it seems they got their hands full, I better not get spotted by any one. Not them, or the ones shooting them_, Penelope thought to herself before she saw them coming closer. They were going down the road she was by, and she could've sworn Haytham caught a glance at her before she hid more accurately.

As Penelope quietly tailed the three, once they got to the end of the corn area, she saw many men come from all directions after Mister Kenway. He seemed to have no problem taking them all down; Penelope even noticed some of the moves he used. The strategies he used. They reminded her of the things she knew just more percise and on timing; her skills needed to be brushed up on, but she knew them when she saw them. It made her even more interested, and once all the men were shot and knocked down, she heard Charles's voice catching up with the Kenway character.

"I hope whatever's in this chest is worth it," he said, only to get a smartass remark from Hickey not long after, "Come on, now. It's just a few fools with knives... they ain't so tough." "It's not the scoundrels I'm concerned with," Charles replied as they all headed on their way down the dirt path. They came to a more open area, which irritated Penelope, but she charged her way after them either way and ended up jumping in a nearby carriage of hay.

The noise; Penelope swore she saw Haytham look back again, but she thought she was still seeing things, _I'm just imagining it. I'm panicking too much, calm down Pen._ she reassured herself, watching as more men came and the three took all of them down within the next two or so minutes.

"Oi! Mister Johnson's gonna need to double my pay after all dis if he expects me to keep at 'is side," Penelope heard the Hickey man complain; the three of them seemed to be heading back to the city part of Boston, and she pondered on whether she would follow or not. Penelope looked up at the sky to see the time of day, and it seemed she had time; it was on her side today that was for sure.

* * *

Penelope had followed the gang of three all through Boston; she was hiding between groups of people, taking shortcuts through alleys, and even hiding behind boxes and cargo. She was all over the place, and she was eventually led to the Green Dragon Tavern, and it interested her a lot; why would they be going there? She didn't **dare** go into the tavern, but she was curious as to why they all went there, "Maybe some sort of hideout. Or maybe they're seeing a friend," she guessed aloud before standing up and walking casually in the streets.

She had to head home – or not, "He won't worry _too much_, will he?" she asked herself before putting her shoulder-length hair into a pony tail as if she were someone totally different, "Oh no! I'm a mother and I wouldn't worry a bit, I'd encourage it!" she said in a high-pitched voice before putting her black hair down back to normal; combed and not messed with. Her expression turned to normal since her impersonation involved an odd smile as if being, again, someone else.

After wandering around not too far from the Green Dragon Tavern, Penelope found a nice stack of hay to lay in for the night; she didn't mind sleeping in hay, it was something she did with Ratonhnhaké:ton when they would go on miniature adventures in the Frontier, exploring the land on which they stood on. She made herself comfortable and just thought to herself on today's events; it went better than she expected, minus the fact she had to beat up four buff men who were majorly angry at her, but she didn't take that into consideration much. "I think this will be a good few days. This whole thing is like an adventure," she said to herself before she shut her eyes, fixing her arms to be behind her head for support, only to fall asleep not long after from the exhaustion of the active day.

* * *

Penelope's POV:

The last three days were interesting; I know I'm probably a creepy stalker when in the eyes of others, but this Kenway character was… intriguing, I couldn't stop figuring out his purpose here. The last three days weren't anything majorly amazing, but I was still excited when I followed this man; my chest always got that… different feeling when I saw his hat, but I was always scared a little bit. What if he spots me? What if he notices, would he kill me too? It terrified me, but I tried not to take too much thought onto it.

This day was a new day, though. This time, Charles Lee, as I have learned his last name, came along with Mister Kenway. They were heading towards some area across the city, and I decided to follow after. Once I caught up with them, I saw Haytham going up to a house with Charles following not shortly after as Kenway knocked on the door. I hid not far from the side of the house, watching them, and heard Haytham trying to open the locked door after no one answered.

He seemed irritated as he turned around, putting his arms behind his back, and muttered something, but I couldn't make out what it was. That was when Charles kicked the door open; what a rude thing to do, even _**I**_ wouldn't do that! The two lingered into the house, and I just... sat there behind a crate to make sure they wouldn't spot me as they came out of the house. As soon as they came out of the house, Haytham seemed to mutter something to Charles before the two parted ways. Haytham was walking to the right while Charles headed to a more populated area where the neighbors were talking.

Paying no mind to Charles, I followed after the male with the hat down a secluded alley way.

Not my best choice. **Not at all**.

* * *

No one's POV:

Penelope headed down the secluded alley way Haytham Kenway wandered into, but once she came into the opening where animals and plants were, she didn't see him. It raised her curiosity, and she looked around, "Where did he go?" she asked herself quietly, trying to access what had just happened. Her question was answered though as a sharp pain came to her, and in seconds she was pinned against the brick wall nearby; it had happened so quickly, and the next thing Penelope was clearly able to see was the face of the man she had been following for the longest time.

Her confused face turned into a terrified look; she was in pain from the amount of pressure her wrists received from Haytham keeping them still, and he gave a livid stare, "May I ask _why_ you are taking the courtesy to follow me?" he asked, demanding an answer, "Are you perhaps trying to spy on the Order? I wouldn't expect a savage like you to be one, but I don't take kindly to take any chances." "No, no you have it all wrong!" Penelope said, obviously panicking. She thought he was going to kill her, when Haytham truly had no intention to kill a girl like her; she seemed too weak-minded to try anything foolish after one encounter, "I was following you because you seemed i.. interesting! Please, Mister Kenway, I mean no harm," she insisted; now truly having a panic attack.

Haytham seemed to see the honesty in her eyes and let her go, giving her space as he seemed to observe her; she seemed like a Native by her clothing, but her skin was so pale, he wondered if she had any British in her, "Very well, but let me be clear, should I ever find you following me again, I'll not hesitate to cut off your head myself," he threatened before giving her a final look and leaving. Penelope was left there with a blank face that hid emotion, staring ahead, taking his words in. He spared her life, yet still threatened to kill her the next time he was to find her, a _**savage**_, following, "I… guess I'll give it some time_, and then_ follow again!" she said as her expression changed to an angered expression; she felt it was a contest between her and Haytham, now, since he seemed to think _he_ was the superior one between them.

"He thought he was badass, _please_! I'm better at him, and I know it! I can be all cool looking like that too!" she exclaimed, venting to herself as she saw a goat come up beside her; she stared at the goat and just sighed, petting it. She needed to vent where she could kill whatever animal she wanted and not get in trouble for it: the Frontier.

* * *

Penelope was done in Boston: for now, she swore she'd be back one day to get back at him. She was heading back to Kanatahséton first since she wanted to see her friend once more before getting in trouble, so she took her route there while she ranted, "I will not be looked down upon from him, and I'll show him I'm just as high up there as he is! Maybe even **better**!" she ranted, tugging at her hair a bit; she was frustrated, and wanted her time to get back at Mister Kenway. As Penelope headed down into Mohawk Valley, dragging her feet along and kicking at the dirt, she continued to mumble things under her breath until she was pulled back with a dramatic force; someone was ambushing her.

Trying to scream and get away, Penelope's defensive walls came up and she tried her best to pull away; she was about too until she was hit on the head of what seemed to be the butt of a musket.

_Then everything went black._

* * *

**Well then, Mister Kenway, you surely can be rude! Let the games begin, possibly a rivalry of some sort? Predictions, anyone? Hnm… no matter, we shall see!**

**See you in due time in chapter four.  
**


	4. Chapter Four: Infiltration

**Authors note: Thank you all to everyone who is reading, favorite-ing, following, and reviewing! The feedback is encouraging, truly. Here's chapter four! We shall see who ambushed Penelope, and where her adventure lies next in her life. Any guesses on who it was? (:**

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which slightly alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Four: Infiltration

_As Penelope headed down into Mohawk Valley, dragging her feet along and kicking at the dirt, she continued to mumble things under her breath until she was pulled back with a dramatic force; someone was ambushing her._

_Trying to scream and get away, Penelope's defensive walls came up and she tried her best to pull away; she was about too until she was hit on the head of what seemed to be the butt of a musket. __Then everything went black._

_Penelope's POV:_

…My head was killing me, it was as if someone was hitting me constantly in the back of my head trying to crack my skull open. I was barely able to recall the previous night's memories: I was walking to the village when I was ambushed by someone, and knocked out cold in the ticking seconds. Damn, how could I be so… unaware of my surroundings? My father was right; all I would do is get myself into trouble. I did, I was caught by Kenway and captured by people as it seemed. I felt my wrists bound tightly by rope, but didn't dare open my eyes until I gained composure of myself.

Once I did, I peeked through one eye to see I was sitting on a bench of some sort, and I was able to feel another presence beside me. I completely opened my eyes as I let an involuntary groan escape my lips, and saw I horses in front of me; I was sitting on a carriage of some sort, and by the sounds behind me, more people were captured but put in some sort of containment cell. British redcoats were protecting the ride and a redcoat soldier was sitting beside me with his hands together; he hadn't said a word when he realized I had awoken. All he did was give me a look as if I was completely below him; I assumed they thought I was one who spoke no English considering I was found near a Native tribe village.

Great; I had no idea where I was being taken, who these people really were, and how many others were taken other than myself. What have I gotten myself into? How would my father react to all these things I've experienced within the past few days? Surely I would be in deep shit when I return home, and I knew that from the very depths of my soul. It seemed by the direction we were going, we were heading to Boston from some weird way I wasn't aware of; I listened to the redcoats and their talk about their lives, but eventually yawned and looked over at the man sitting beside me, "Where are you taking me, and I presume the others?" I asked, seeing as the man didn't even take a glance back at me this time, "We're talking you all to a place where animals like you belong." "But where, specifically?" I pressed, not taking the insult too personal; I was already in a deep trench of trouble, wasn't I?

"We are taking you a nice place where you are surely familiar with, I presume. One of my men says you were there today," the soldier mused, not up for a lengthy conversation, "Ah, Boston. What a lively city, I must say. After such a long day, I surely was tired. In fact, I am still tired," I said, yawning before closing my eyes. I took my chances to pretend and fall asleep, falling sideways to fall off the carriage and onto the hard dirty ground beneath. Uggh... the impact was a pain! I hit my head pretty hard, and everyone stopped in their tracks as a few soldiers came to my form and picked me up to my feet.

They hadn't said anything and just made me sit back at square one, and I hadn't said another word. Boy, this was going to be a long ride, and I had to figure out how to escape with the others. Fast.

* * *

About twenty minutes passed on the journey and the sun was showing from the mountains; it seemed I was captured for most of the night. I needed to think of a plan, though, before we were to reach Boston where more soldiers would be... Damn, how I wish I knew more tactics when it came to stuff like this! Sadly, while thinking, my emotions showed and it seemed to catch one of the soldier's attention, "What's the problem?" he asked, but it took me a minute to respond. I had gotten an idea, and my expression turned to a sorrowful look as if I did have a problem, "There is a bit of a problem," I started, pointing to my ropes, "My sore joints are achy, and the ropes are too loose." "Too loose?" he questioned, seeing my expression change, "That's right, the ropes are loose and they move around too much, burning my wrists."

"It would help me if you would tighten them so they wouldn't rub against them," I explained as innocent as possible, which made the soldier sigh as he looked at the one sitting beside me, "Tighten her ropes so she stops complaining," he said in a rather strict tone of voice, even though he didn't seem to be in command. The soldier beside me did as told and started to tighten my ropes more, but I took this as an open shot and slammed my head against his, causing him to fall back; I knew my head would be sore not long after, but I didn't hesitate to get on the move, and I tried to jump back and roll down the hill to the side to escape and eventually return later to free the others, but it didn't go as planned. As I rolled down the hill, I ended up hitting my stomach right into a tree—guess I should've planned the escape route as well. The wind was knocked right out of me, and I knew this attempt was my defeat.

The soldiers caught up to me and surrounded me, one even tied up my ankles this time as well, "She's too dangerous, we have to keep an extra eye on her to Boston." "We're almost there, so don't you think she'll behave in Boston where more troops are stationed?" they conversed; damn, I was _so close_, but it seemed my chance to escaping before Boston didn't go as planned. I felt my body being shifted and the soldiers lifting me up to return back to the convoy, but I hadn't resisted at all since I knew better; luckily, they put me back in my original spot next to that certain soldier. I hadn't known why, but it seemed they had their reasons for it so I just kept my mouth shut.

I would end up keeping my mouth shut the whole time through Boston, actually.

* * *

No one's POV:

It had started raining and Penelope was scanning the crowds of people disappearing into their homes of Boston and getting out of the weather; she was getting wet from the rain, but didn't seem to care. She was used to getting wet from the sky pouring onto her, so wasn't going to complain; hell, Achilles would find her playing in the mud by the barn not far from home when she was a child, of course a little water wouldn't faze her.

The British troops continued marching through Boston, escorting the convoy when Penelope saw a blocked obstacle in the way, causing the convoy to stop, "The hell is this?" the front soldier asked the normal looking people that were in a bit of a tight conflict. _Wait,_ she thought, taking a closer look, _isn't that... Hickey?_ She asked herself, noticing Thomas Hickey, especially when she heard his voice, "A thousand pardons, sirs- seems we've 'ad ourselves an unhappy little accident," he said.

Though, as soon as Hickey said his smart remark, Penelope was able to hear troops yelling from behind; surely something was up, and she didn't like it. A sudden fight broke out and other men started to fight one another, but in minutes it all calmed down; the redcoats were killed, and the men who ambushed them took their place. Penelope noticed a few of them: Charles Lee, Thomas Hickey, and she even saw the man who threatened to kill her on their last encounter, Haytham Kenway.

She noticed they had disguised themselves as redcoats, and Haytham patting one of the horses that had calmed down after the sudden conflict, "Charles- you and William will serve as vanguard. Let no man reach us," he ordered, staring at his best man, "Wot about me?" Thomas spoke up, unfolding his arms as he walked over to the other four, "You and John will follow from a distance and keep watch over us. I'll signal you when I have need of your services." was Kenway's response, but Penelope acted as if she wasn't even listening.

In fact, she didn't even want to **look** at him; she was still irritated that the man was so full of himself, conceited in his ways. Once the men got their plan together, Penelope heard Haytham sit beside her, and felt his eyes on her. In all reality, Haytham was actually surprised that he would find Penelope in this type of problem; he had thought she wouldn't be seen as a Native, or even enslaved for Silas Thatcher. No matter, he knew he had to gain her trust for the sake of the Order, so decided to engage in a more... friendly manner, "We're here to help you- along with those held inside Southgate Fort," he said, but Penelope didn't even glance at him.

She said nothing and just stared the other direction; her stubborn-ness was showing. Though, she eventually got the hint he was trying to be friendly to her, so she took a chance, "Free me." was all she said, "Not until we're inside the gate. I can't chance an inspection at the gate going wrong," Kenway responded. Damn, she had to do something to benefit him first, what a pain. Penelope just sighed, and still didn't dare to look at him, "I'll see you safe. You have my word."

The complete opposite of what he had said before, and it somewhat pleased the female; she was confident her day wouldn't go as bad as she thought earlier. That was when the horses started to ride once more, and Penelope decided to stare into her lap to keep her at bay, and had hoped no conversation would start again. As if God himself was against her, it didn't happen, "Do you know anything of Silas' operation? How many men we might expect? The nature of their defenses?" Nothing. Penelope didn't respond. She didn't even know an answer, really.

"You must be rather important to him if you were given your own escort..." he mused, still continuing to talk; Penelope was getting somewhat upset, for some reason. First, he was rude, and now he wants information from her? She thought it was foolish, but again, didn't say anything. "Sir - we've enemies ahead. Shall I engage them?" "No. Let Jonathan and Thomas take care of it," Haytham responded, watching ahead of their path, spotting the British troops.

"As you wish." and with that, Haytham continued to bother Penelope, sighing as if he were in defeat, "I wish you'd trust us... Though I suppose it's only natural for you to be wary. So be it. I… apologize for our last encounter, if that means anything," he finished, or so it seemed. Penelope hoped it'd be the end of the conversation.

It was. Penelope actually ended up watching their whole operation from a slight angle; she had to admit, the group was quite skilled when it came to their cause, it made Penelope curious about their whole... purpose here; why they were doing this, but she still insisted to not say another word to Mister Kenway, a downfall in her stubborn attitude. Eventually, the convoy came to the fort, and they were able to gain entrance to the restricted area without trouble.

The convoy came to a stop, and Penelope saw the horses relax; they knew their job was done. Suddenly, she felt her guard suddenly rise and her reflects take control, and her head jerked back to stare at the man sitting by her; he was grabbing her wrists and freeing her of her bonds. He cut her wrist ties, then the rope on her feet while speaking, "See? I'm freeing you just as I said I would. Now if you'll allow me to explain-"

Penelope was gone as soon as her limbs were able to move; she hadn't even listened to what he was going to say. She ran away and didn't stop running, not expecting to be chased after. As she knew, she wasn't. Haytham watched her flee and stopped his men as they attempted to go after her, "Let her go," he said, stepping back onto the soil below, "But she'll give us away." "No she won't." was Haytham's response; he was confident, and was sure of himself that Penelope wouldn't say a word.

"What's the plan?" Charles asked, everyone looking at their leader, "Free the captives and avoid detection." "What of Silas?" Ben Church came up, obviously wanting his revenge; he needed Silas, the slaver, to be put to an end. Haytham stared at the man for a moment with a quite serious face, but then put a verdict for Thatcher's fate, "He dies." and with that, the men went to do their jobs, and Haytham went onward to free the captives around the fort.

* * *

Penelope's POV: 

I swear that man was mad! Thinking I'd help him in any way possible after calling me a _**savage**_!? No one in bloody hell was I going to do such a thing, and there wasn't anything that would change my mind, not even that damn kind thing he did, setting me free! I was irritated, yet c_onfused_, really. I hadn't known what to think of the man, but his complex attitude towards me just seemed to lure me closer to the idea of getting to know the man one on one. Instead of just fleeing and saving myself, I decided to free the others just as well and kill a couple of redcoats. I couldn't stand seeing these troops live after kidnapping my companions, so I vented my anger onto them; to me, it was the best way at the moment. As I killed a few wandering troops from the bushes with a few blades I found littered about, I noticed what Mister Kenway was doing; he was freeing the captives just as I intended to do, and killed the man in command of the area, "What are you up too?" There I went, talking to myself aloud like an odd ball, and now _following _the man once again like I had not too long ago.

Eventually, I lost track of him, and ended up wandering in the bushes not too far from a few captives who were still bound to their place, unable to flee and run away. It didn't last long though, I ended up bumping into another human being in the bushes, and my head was damaged even more than it already had been today. My mistake ended up being responded to Haytham holding a blade to my throat, but he lowered it once it realized it was me, "Watch where you're going, girl!" he snapped, yet I could still see that surprise in his eyes that I was still here, "Hey, you aren't the only one who wants to save these people!" I retorted in return, only to get an irritated sigh from the man in front of me.

I wasn't able to see much of his face, but I got a feeling he was going to leave this area for me while he was to do more… important manners. He didn't say anything, actually, and just left in another direction. What **nerve**! No matter, I didn't take it harshly and just focused on my goal: letting these captives free. The soldier who was making his rounds around the area was heading in my direction, obviously making sure no one was up to anything fishy, but I hadn't let him leave the area; I grabbed him and stabbed him in the chest a couple of times, killing him and letting his blood spill all over my arms. It wasn't the best thing to do, but I had no time to think about it since I was in a dangerous area and had to act fast.

He was dead, and now I was able to lay my goal to the captives who were staring at me with hopeful looks, knowing I was to be their savior of the day, "Be sure not to get caught," I told them quietly as I broke their locks and lifted the wooden plates to let them slip out one by one. Once the men were freed, they both stared at me and smiled before running off: man, I felt good at that moment. I did something worthwhile.

* * *

No one's POV:

Once the captives were free, all hell broke loose. People were fighting all over the place, and Silas Thatcher was in no mood to deal with any of this havoc; it was out of hand! All he wanted was a nap, but instead he was dealing with this crisis; he stormed outside to his troops and vented his anger onto them, throwing his arms in the air and making exaggerated expressions, "An hour of quiet was all I asked, but instead I'm awakened not ten minutes later by this cacophonous madness! I expect an explanation - and it had best be good!" he yelled, looking at all the soldiers that were by him.

He went over to the edge of the fort wall to see the actual fight, and it baffled him; he was wide-eyed and more furious than he previously was, "How!? How did this happen!? My precious merchandise set free?! It's unacceptable! Rest assured, I'll have the heads of those responsible!" he yelled, turning to face the redcoats standing there with their arms, "But first... first we clean up this mess!" he ordered, throwing his arms about once more. Silas was angered and had to think of something, so he decided to throw out his orders, "Seal the fort. Kill any who try to escape. I don't care if they be one of us or one of... them. To approach the gates is to be made a corpse! Am I understood?"

His orders were put into play; the troops obeyed him and the fort was sealed off and the men went to their stations to defend the exits for any people who tried their best to leave. Penelope, who was busy fighting her share of redcoats with her fellow tribe members, she noticed Mister Haytham Kenway making his way to the entrance of the fort; she assumed he had a good reason for his actions, but she didn't dare go after him. She knew it'd be a stupid thing for her to do, so she took her shade of her fights and continued stabbing one soldier after the next; this time, she wasn't failing like she had with her hunting experiences in the past.

Not moments later had she heard a gunshot.

Haytham Kenway had found Silas Thatcher and wounded him; he knew his place and knew Mister Church would want his revenge. Haytham was aware the man wasn't going anywhere, so he took his time to stroll right up to him, looking down at the man he had wounded with an unfazed expression, "Who are you?" Silas asked, looking up at Kenway with a confused look, "Name's Haytham Kenway, you don't know me. But I believe the two of you are well acquainted..." Haytham responded, stepping out of the way as he saw Church take his step up to the stage.

"I made a promise to you, Silas - one I intend to keep." **Bam**! Silas's head seemed to burst from the gun shot, and Church was well aware of his accomplishment. It felt good to the older man that he was able to get his revenge on such a men like Silas Thatcher. Their job was done here, and Haytham insisted on getting out of this mess; he was done for the day, and wanted a drink. As the Order rounded up and everything calmed down, Haytham watched the captives going free through the south exit of the fort, leaving towards the open-forest of the Frontier. Penelope was within the group, and spotted the man, only glancing at him before she gave a disturbing look at him with her tongue stuck out, leaving Boston with the others.

Her action actually caused Haytham to let out a small chuckle; she seemed to be a stubborn and childish woman, one who still needed to brush up on just about... everything, really. It interested him, in a way, and it caused his thoughts to wonder before he heard Charles approach, "What happens now?" he questioned, causing Haytham to think for a moment, "We wait. Though, not for very long, I suspect..." he trailed, standing straight and turning to stare at his closest companion, "Shall we head back to the Green Dragon Tavern for the night, Charles? I assume all of us are up for a drink and a good night's rest," Haytham suggested, "Yes, sir. I'm sure we're all ready to head back," Lee agreed and the two gathered with the others. They all headed back on horse-back to the Tavern in Central Boston, and Thomas Hickey especially was up for a drinking night: it was enough for one day.

* * *

Ratonhnhaké:ton's POV:

I was so worried about Penelope and the others who have gone missing; she had said she would be gone for one day, not any longer, right? My day was nothing but searching the forests for any clues, but my results were nothing; a high disappointment. _Ugh_! What if she was in **danger**!? What if she was wounded, and needed my assistance? I shouldn't have let her go by herself; I could've stopped her from doing anything risky!

The others must've freed themselves and were heading back to the village, now, right? I've been so conflicted, seeing all these people go missing and not doing anything about it? They were the innocent, and I could've helped. My frantic search came to an end that night, though, when I came to a hunter's cabin, "Mister, have you by chance seen a group of my people walking around these areas, or perhaps a girl of pale skin and of black hair?" I asked kindly, seeing them think upon the question. "Hmm… I did see a group of Natives heading towards the valley. Not too long ago, actually," he responded, looking over at what seemed to be his friend, "I also remember seeing that girl; Native clothing too, right?" the other added, contributing to the topic of conversation.

"Yes, those are the ones," I responded, but the men only pointed in the path I am to go on. I did as advised, and headed down the dirt path I was guided to, and in no time I found my people along with Penelope in the back; they were talking amongst each other, and my anger seemed to fade. They were all safe and soon to be in the village once more; that, I was proud of. The first thing I had done was sneak up on Penelope and grab her from behind; I had thought it would work like all the other times, but she seemed to catch on and flip me over onto my back like I had done to her not long ago! "What was that for?!" "For sneaking up on me," I saw her smirk as she walked passed me; she was no different than before she had left to Boston, and still had that attitude.

"What happened to you and the others?" I asked after getting to my feet, following after my friend; I saw her troubled features and felt my curiosity rise to a point where I wanted to know at that very moment, "We were captured by redcoats; we were apparently going to become enslaved, but we were let go by a group of men who wanted to cease the fort's activity." Was all she said before I seemed to just let myself go; she was _what_?! They were innocent people, and had no reason to be harmed! "They deserve to suffer, then! Did they!? If not, I will surely put an end to them and their crimes!" "Calm down! It's not a big deal; they were all killed off! Sheesh!" Penelope raised her voice at me; I saw her irritancy, so I backed off. I knew better than to trouble her more than she already was.

The rest of the way back to the village was with no spoken or heard words.

* * *

**Hnm, seems Penelope caught onto Haytham's act to get her help, and once she heads back to poor Connor, they don't hit it off too well! Hope this is heading into a good direction! Predictions on how Ratonhnhaké:ton and Penelope are going to get along after they relax back at the village? **

**See you all in chapter five!**

**Thank you to all who are reading!  
**


	5. Chapter Five: We Talk Together

**_Reminder_: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which slightly alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Five: We Talk Together

_"They deserve to suffer, then! Did they!? If not, I will surely put an end to them and their crimes!" "Calm down! It's not a big deal; they were all killed off! Sheesh!" Penelope raised her voice at me; I saw her irritancy, so I backed off. I knew better than to trouble her more than she already was._

_The rest of the way back to the village was with no spoken or heard words._

No one's POV:

_Late summer, 1753_

The next two and a half days were nothing but bickering for the two friends; Penelope and Ratonhnhaké:ton seemed to find every reason to argue, and it just went out of hand. They were two stubborn blokes who didn't know how to control their sudden outbursts, and going head to head was never a good thing, especially when it was between these two friends here in the Frontier. It was the third day of arguing now, and Penelope still refused to go back to Davenport Homestead to her father; she knew if she were to go back now, she might not leave the manor for a good amount of time for punishment. _Minds well live this to the extent before going home, I guess_, she would think, but she hadn't known when the **right time** to go home was.

The Clan Mother had advised Penelope to go when she _felt _was the right time to go back, so Penelope left it at that; she was already so confused about the events that had happened so far. Her curiosity about Haytham didn't help in any fashion, and her arguments with Ratonhnhaké:ton was beyond proportion. It was midday so far, and Penelope, Ratonhnhaké:ton, and a few others were walking in the forests to find the daily bounty for the tribe; no words were spoken, and Penelope was un-noticeably walking beside her best friend. It seemed natural for her to do so, even though they were bickering, but eventually she heard Ratonhnhaké:ton speak to her, "Stop shuffling your feet," he said in a vague tone of voice.

She wasn't shuffling her feet, was she? Penelope tried to see if she was shuffling, and she hadn't thought she was; she was walking normally! "I'm not shuffling my feet," she mused in return, "Yes, you are." Ratonhnhaké:ton was keeping his ground, and even raised his voice a bit, "Nooooo, I'm **not**," Penelope responded, raising her voice just as much, now looking directly at her best friend with an irritated look; Ratonhnhaké:ton gave just as much of an annoyed look in return, and the tension between them seemed to rise, "You are, now pick up your feet and walk normally!" Ratonhnhaké:ton insisted, only to get loud, tough stomps from Penelope in return; her expression seemed to get more irritated, if that was possible, and her pace seemed to become faster, "Here! Is this normal for you!? I'm picking up my feet!" she yelled now, seeing her friend catch up with her, now on the verge of out bursting. Penelope's stomps were over-exaggerated, and everyone who was with the two stopped their activity to watch them, "Don't you think they need to calm down and make up?" one of the others, Kanen'tó:kon, asked another quietly. They all agreed, and saw the two bickering adults were scaring off the animals in the area, "Look what you did now, you scared all the hunt off!" they could hear Ratonhnhaké:ton yell from a distance. It seemed Penelope and him had stopped walking and were now standing in one area, yelling in each others faces, "Me!? You were the one who complained about my walking in the first place!" Penelope yelled at her male friend, shoving him; it didn't too much since he only was shoved back a step.

The bickering seemed to never stop, but eventually the others in the group walked up to them and Kanen'tó:kon coughed loudly, staring at them, "You two, can we just… go do what we need to do? The tribe doesn't have all day to wait for us to return," he suggested, and it seemed to help a bit. The two friends gave a final glare at one another before they went their opposite ways; apparently everyone was going to now find their own hunt and meet up with the rest, later.

* * *

Penelope knew she wasn't the best hunter out there, but she was aware she was improving; actually, over-confident just as much. After catching that deer not long ago, she was confident she'd be able to catch something bigger: a bear, "I'll show him," she said to herself, wandering around the forest just on the edge of the valley. It was quiet, and she seemed to envelope herself into the silence by just standing in the open for a moment; she wanted to just listen to the rabbits prancing around, the fox chasing its prey, and the birds chirping from above. Once she reminded herself of her job to find food, she continued wandering around until she ended up bumping into her _'friend'_.

Ratonhnhaké:ton was about to attack her, thinking she was something else, but once he saw her form he just gave her a look before running in a different direction; he wasn't going to get distracted while he was expected to find food. Penelope watched him run off, but just groaned in annoyance as she continued on her way, "He's so childish, why would he even argue over something so little?" she asked herself, even though she shouldn't be talking; she was practically doing the same exact thing, so by the end of the day, they were both being immature. Though, each one thought they weren't. Penelope continued ranting to herself aloud as she drug herself around the land, but suddenly stopped in her tracks and hid behind a nearby tree: she found herself a black bear. The bear was just relaxing, sitting on a rock ledge where the ledge looked out into the valley below; it made Penelope wonder why the bear was so high up since she would expect cougars to actually wander around the area, but she didn't care either way. She had found her prey, and that's all that mattered to her at the moment.

The bear was rolling around and enjoying the nice weather, not doing much, but Penelope took caution and slowly but eventually took her ground nearby the beast. She was hiding in the bushes, trying not to make too much noise, watching every step to make sure she didn't mess up, but… it didn't go as planned. The girl ended up stepping on a few branches that cracked under her feet, and the oblivious bear suddenly moved, now looking at Penelope directly into her hazel coloured hues. The bear's eyes turned to from an innocent look to an angry and defensive one, it certainly wasn't happy. "Shiiittt," Penelope whispered, only to get an angry bear now on her tail. The bear charged at her, but this was her cue to leave, so Penelope booked it and ran as fast as she could.

Yelling every moment or there, Penelope came sprinting down the hill as the giant black bear came running after her; it seemed to be just behind her, since Penelope could hear it as if it were _right there_. It terrified her, but she didn't dare look behind her or even stop to say **hi** to the animal; she needed to get away, and fast, before she came to the village. She saw Ratonhnhaké:ton and the others looking for her ahead, and all she could do was yell at them; Ratonhnhaké:ton looked in her direction and his face dropped, _**Great. **_The group split up and they were able to see Penelope take a sharp right into some bushes, but the bear kept going straight; it almost chased Kanen'tó:kon, but ended up disappearing through the bushes without chasing anyone else.

Once the commotion settled and the group re-grouped once more, Penelope slightly chuckled and scratched her head nervously as everyone gave her a disappointed expression, "Look at what you did, you almost _got __**killed **_and you didn't get one kill for the tribe!" Kanen'tó:kon scolded, causing Penelope to look down in defeat; she felt embarrassed and disappointed in herself, but it seemed they ended up with enough bounty either way. The others got many hare, fox, and a few deer that would be enough for the meals of the day, but Penelope still felt stupid since she hadn't contributed in any way possible. All she brought was a danger to everyone: an angry black bear that almost mauled her face off.

* * *

Penelope's POV: 

I swear, hunting isn't my thing; first I can't even get one piece of meat for the next meal, and now I can't even sneak up on something!? This day couldn't get any worse, and I doubt it could get any better for that matter. It was the end of the day, and everyone was preparing supper for the tribe; we were to all eat together by the main fire in the middle of the village to have a get-together, I suppose. Usually people would wander off to eat with their separate families, but today was when we all got together and ate. I didn't speak to Ratonhnhaké:ton at all since my screw up with the bear earlier today, but I could see him catching a glance at me every so often, especially at this time of the day; I wasn't going to talk to him until I got _my _apology that I deserved for all his childish acts. I'm mature, right?

I didn't argue until he decided to bring it all onto me! Whatever, I just had to keep calm since my wandering thoughts seemed to show in my actions. Kanen'tó:kon was mixing the stew with me and I saw him give me an odd look, which made me question my actions, "What?" "Are you okay? You seem… Mad, or frustrated. Is it because of earlier today?" he asked, obviously concerned for my well being. I just shrugged as a response and continued to do my part for the meal: I just wanted time to myself.

Ratonhnhaké:ton's POV: 

She could be so childish sometimes, seriously! All I did was ask a small favor in her action, and she lashed out at me like I was the enemy! Penelope has no ounce of maturity in her, I was sure of that, and I could see her thoughts were just the same when I watched her with Kanen'tó:kon not far from my post. I was cooking the meat for today's eating time, but I finished before anyone and waited for my next task. At that moment I knew this: I wasn't going to talk to her until she was to apologize to me about her weak-minded actions and beg for forgiveness. I had done nothing wrong, and it was _her_ doing that brought us here!

My expression was angry as I watched the tribe work, and I just sat at my post as the Clan Mother approached me, "Relax, Ratonhnhaké:ton, and enjoy; there is nothing to be angry about." Was all she said before she left; I wasn't able to let out my opinion of her words. There was a lot to be angry about and it all involved Penelope's un-mature acts of the past few days, but I had seemed to let it go for the moment since the meal time was about to begin.

* * *

No one's POV: 

The whole village was gathered around the big fire of the village, all eating their meat and stew. People were conversing and having a relaxing time, but a tension was still between Penelope and Ratonhnhaké:ton; the two were separated by the fire between them, and they kept their eyes at their food. Though, each of them would end up staring at one another ever so often when the other wasn't looking; others noticed, and wondered how the two were actually in their twenties.

Penelope would end up looking at her Native's friend darker skin complexion and his blank face, observing him from afar. She had just came to realize how long his hair was; she never seemed to take notice that it was only a little shorter than hers, but she liked it all the same. As she observed Ratonhnhaké:ton while she ate, her anger seemed to dissipate, and she actually felt… a bit responsible for everything; when he had gotten defensive over the whole Southgate event, she was the one to snap out at him. She knew she'd have to apologize later, even though her ego wouldn't like it one bit.

His dark eyes glanced up at her as she was still staring at him, but once she realized he caught her staring, she looked back down at her food and seemed to eat at a faster pace; she heard Kanen'tó:kon chuckle at the sight, which made her cheeks darken with embarrassment. Kanen'tó:kon was sitting beside Penelope, watching the scene that was being played in front of him, and it seemed to amuse him to every extent at that moment in time. Others felt the tension simmering down, actually, but it didn't last long since another Mohawk member that was hunting with Penelope and the others, Bharadwaj, seemed to build it up again, "So, Penelope was the one who got that bear after us?" he brought up, looking at Ratonhnhaké:ton, "Yes, it was her fault." "Hey, hold up, I didn't mean to do it on purpose," Penelope remarked, looking at her friend with a slightly bothered expression, "I didn't say that, I said it was your fault," Ratonhnhaké:ton snapped in return as the two seemed to glare at one another again, "Okay, okay, but you said it as if I did it on purpose just to cause shit!" Penelope raised her voice, pointing at him before Ratonhnhaké:ton stood up and pointed back at the female.

"Hey, no need for the harsh words, Bharadwaj was just asking a question!" he yelled, causing Penelope to stand up just as much as he did; the two were going at it… again, "You're the one who – Y'know what, forget it!" and with that, the yelling ended and Penelope just left the whole area. She stomped off and left the village walls, causing everyone to look at one another; the two never seemed to stop arguing over silly things over the course of the last few days. Though, once everyone started talking quietly again and finishing their food, Ratonhnhaké:ton had decided to go after Penelope.

Ratonhnhaké:ton's POV: 

It took me a while to find where Penelope had gone off to, and even though I felt she owed me an apology, I still knew it was right to come after her like this. She was my friend, and we couldn't like this forever. First, I looked at our usual favorite place of stay, but she wasn't there; it made me wonder where she would be at this time, but I didn't stop looking until I would find her. It was dark, and the stars were out with the moon over the water, so my next stop would be in the field by the edge of the land where the water met, and I did indeed find her there.

I was hesitant to approaching her in the beginning, but eventually came up to her and sat behind her; she seemed to notice I had found her and the first thing she said was something I had no expected, "I'm sorry," she said in a meaningful tone of voice, slightly looking over her shoulder to stare at me. Penelope's white tone of skin seemed to glow from the moon light, and it seemed… rather alluring, I must say. Her black hair went with the breeze, and I couldn't help but smile a bit, "It's alright." "No, it's not. I'm serious when I say I'm sorry; all of this arguing was childish, and I'm sorry I acted out on it. We can't be like this forever, Ratonhnhaké:ton,"  
she explained.

She got no response, for all I had done was hug her from behind; a sign of my forgiveness, and too show her it wasn't a big deal to bring down upon. I felt her small hands pat my arm, and I couldn't help but smile more as I smelt a whiff of her hair; I was not aware of why it smelt so good, but I had not the need to ask. We ended up staying like that for a while.

No one's POV: 

The two had stayed in the same position for quite a long time, but eventually, Ratonhnhaké:ton let go of Penelope and started to mess with her hair. Penelope felt his fingers run through the strands of her hair, and she sensed he had started to braid her hair as well; she couldn't help but smile a bit and feel at ease, and eventually let out a small chuckle, "What?" Ratonhnhaké:ton asked quietly, "Nothing, nothing. Just… thinking," Penelope responded, "I don't think I would **ever** look good in braids." "Why not?" he asked, wondering why she would think such a thing; it was normal for Mohawk women to have braids, and he hadn't seen a problem why she wouldn't look good in them. "Well, for one," Penelope started, making the male stop braiding her hair so she could turn around and face him, "I have shorter hair than the other women around here, so of course it'd look… different. I also wouldn't feel like myself: Penelope Davenport, y'know?" she explained briefly before undoing the braid he had made with her hair. Once she fixed her hair, Ratonhnhaké:ton shrugged his shoulders a bit, observing her hair to figure out what to do with it now.

Ratonhnhaké:ton took his time to figure out what to do with her hair, then took out a small tie with two big feathers on it. It was simple in appearance, but he figured it'd represent their close relationship, no matter where she would go. That was when the male reached over towards Penelope's hair, made a nice small pony tail, and tied it up with the tie he had in his other hand. The pony tail was small enough to stick almost directly up, but it suited her, especially with the feathers dangling to the side, "Is that better?" he asked, looking at it to make sure it was the way he wanted her to have it. Penelope wasn't sure how it looked, but she felt it was just perfect anyway; this was a moment only the two of them would share, and she would always have something on her that would remind her of her dearest friend.

That was good enough for her, and it made a smile appear upon her lips, "Perfect."

* * *

Penelope's POV:

_Late autumn, 1753_

As time continued, I have still yet to return to my father and the manor, and am still staying with Ratonhnhaké:ton and the rest of the tribe. I am improving at my skill in hunting, and **actually** did a full week's worth of hunting successfully, but I still have a ways to go. My climbing is still as great as ever, and all my other surviving skills were at their peak. My fighting skills – not too sharp, I must say. I haven't practiced ever since my father let me go off and practice on my own time at the age of nineteen years, so I do admit I needed to get in the habit of getting back into the game.

It was just about midday in the area, and I had been heading to Lexington to gain some supplies for the village; we had needed medical supplies and cloths for our benefits, so I volunteered to go. I needed the exercise, and I loved the adventure, even though I did have a hard time coming this far; Ratonhnhaké:ton insisted he to go with me, which I obviously denied. I didn't need help, especially when dealing with just the market people in a small town as this. It couldn't be a big deal, could it?

I saw the first building of Lexington not far ahead of me, so I started to jog in their direction with a steady pace, eager to get what was needed so I could take a few moments to wander around a bit. Eventually, I saw the groups of people at the markets doing their shopping for the day; it was a good sight since it wasn't exactly like Boston, but I didn't take too much attention to it since I saw a man at his market calling at me, "All must go, you there, come take a look!" he insisted. I gazed upon his market from afar, only seeing fruits and vegetables at his stand, so all I did was give him a small smile before wandering to the man who was selling medical supplies and everything else **other** than food. I approached him and smiled, handing him the coins I had to buy everything, "I am in need of everything on this list," I told him, handing him the list I had afterwards. He got what I needed together, gave me the load and my change back, and then bid me goodbye.

It was an easy errand, but it didn't go to well when I was walking around Lexington to admire the scenery for a little; I recognized two men who were staring at me. William Johnson and Charles Lee, but why would they observe me? I hadn't gotten involved in their little group at all since the commotion back in Boston. Rather, all I did was follow Mister Kenway, which I assumed was in charge of all of them, but I had decided ever since then that I shouldn't speak with him. He wanted something from me, but I wasn't going to let any opportunity arise for him to explain himself, no. Besides, to him I was a savage. Hmph… Damn Brits (Can't really say that, but hey, I wasn't fully British, so who cares?).

I tried my best to avoid the two men; I had to get away, so I decided to head the opposite way I had came from. No matter, a little detour won't kill me, would it? The faster I walked to get away from their sight, though, the more they tried to tail me. "Miss! Please, stop!" I heard Lee call, "Native, please heed our words!" I heard the other, and that was what caused me to look back at them, then run. I ran and didn't stop, because I knew they would run after. Dammit, why were they so pertinacious?

The supplies I had bought were being a real pain, but I knew I had to do something right, and at least go back with everything still with me. If I hadn't been thinking of the outcomes like that, I actually would've just chucked it to the side and booked it as fast as I could. As I continued running, I saw that I was closing in on the next town: Concord. If I were to go right through the town, surely the towns people would spot me and tell them which way I went, right? I didn't want to take any risks, so I went into the forest trees as fast as I could, and traveled from above the best I could into Concord.

* * *

I ended up hiding in the hay stack next to the Wright Tavern. It wasn't the best idea since Mister Lee and Johnson were around there a lot, and I couldn't get out for a couple of hours, but I just decided to stay hidden there until they were to leave. I had my chance by the evening, finally, so I jumped out of the hay stack before brushing myself off. I had pieces of hay all over me, but I didn't pay mind to it since they all came off easily. The horse feet away from me was staring, watching, and neighing at me a bit which caused me to make an expression at it as if it were speaking to me and I was responding back; I even neighed back before petting him on his side.

Taking the moment to observe the horse's features; it's black mane and dark deep hues, I couldn't help but smile to myself at the thought of riding a horse. My father never let me because he thought I didn't need to: I already knew how to travel well on foot, so it wasn't really needed. After saying a quiet goodbye to the horse, I walked off back towards my destination, knowing I had to return before nightfall so no one would get worried. I followed the dirt road, humming to myself, but ended up noticing something ahead, about twenty or so paces away; it was Mister Haytham Kenway heading in my direction. My guess was that he was heading to the tavern I had just hid by.

He noticed me, and was about to say something, but I did something I hadn't meant to do; I ran and ran into the forest as fast as I could, only to hear him saying 'stop'. I didn't want to run, I actually wanted to speak with him; to get to hear him out, but I just felt I had to run instead. I followed my instincts and kept running; I was able to hear him trying to chase after me, but after I hit the nearby river and bushes, I lost him. Though, I still didn't stop after that, I ran **_all _**the way back to the tribe, only to be exhausted when I returned.

* * *

No one's POV:

The rest of the evening was rather calming, but Penelope was beginning to feel more conflicted over the course of the passing weeks; she kept asking herself, what was her place in the universe to be at? Obviously, she had something to do with Mister Kenway, but also something to do with her home; both the tribe and Davenport Manor. Ratonhnhaké:ton had seen her troubled feelings show on her face, and that night had become a calming conversation by the water.

"…Think about our place in the Universe?" Penelope suggested as the two sat by one another, staring at the water ahead, "Don't you want to know your purpose in the world?" she added, looking over at the male who seemed to drift away into deep thought. That was when he noticed Penelope staring at him, and he tried to search for words; he hadn't heard much of what she said.

"Let's just let things unfold as they are to be."

* * *

**Guess Connor and Penelope never stop their arguing, do they? Haha, at least they always make up in the end: a true friendship. It looks like Haytham and his buddies are searching for Penelope, but she doesn't want to cooperate! Any predictions, dearies? Let us move onward to chapter six!  
**

**(⌒▽⌒) Have a good day/evening/night!**


	6. Chapter Six: Unconvinced

**Authors Note: So, here we are; chapter six! We're slowly getting into our little adventure, and the Templars are searching for our friend, Penelope! Enough of my babbling, let's continue this story! (: My word of thanks to those everyone for reading!  
**

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which slightly alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Six: Unconvinced

Penelope's POV:

_Early Winter, 1753_

It was just recently that I had learned about the future raids from the British soldiers down at Concord. They planned on raiding my people, to take the land and use it for their own benefit; another reason why I had decided not to go back to my father at this moment in time. I haven't told anyone of the news back in the village, not even Ratonhnhaké:ton, since I had not wanted to startle them; it would've been havoc with all of them, and I knew trouble would come out of it. Lately, I've been away from everyone, keeping camp not far from Concord to gain more information on the raids, or as they called it, _expeditions_.

Ratonhnhaké:ton, at first, insisted on joining me to where ever I was going, but I told him I was going on a "journey for myself", where I was going to find who I was. I knew he would believe it; even if he didn't, he would respect my decision I announced to him. It was the only way to make sure he wouldn't follow, either, since I know he was always concerned about my safety: I could take care of myself! Okay, maybe most of the time. It had started snowing already in this time of the year, and at that moment in time I was sitting in the snow with a fire going, eating a hare I had caught and cooked not long ago.

It was quite lonely; being all alone these days without anyone to speak to. The flames seemed to envelope me as I thought about this, and I had stopped eating the hare I was almost finished with; the flames were just sparking and showing their true colours, and I had gotten myself drowned into the moment. The warmth that touched my face, the colours that illuminated around me, I could truly say the fire I had created not long ago did keep me company. However, my moment was ruined once I had heard horses from a distance that were closing in; I couldn't get caught around here, the soldiers were already suspicious of my actions.

So, with haste, I snuffed the fire out without burning myself, and ran the opposite direction of the approaching group. _Wait,_ I thought, noticing my tracks, _I have to go for the trees,_ and so I did; I climbed the nearest tree and tried to jump from tree to tree, but the distance was too far apart, so by the end of that moment I resorted back to just going through the snow. I figured they wouldn't be as smart to figure out I had ran off, anyway; they may think the fire was out for hours, or maybe a day, I didn't know how dense they would be.

My thoughts were distracted though, and I ended up being distracted by a nearby hunting trap. I wondered what Native tribe was around, so I went over to observe the way it was made. I had learned from Ratonhnhaké:ton that different tribes used different types of material to make traps; some, more advanced than others. I stopped running and approached the trap, looking at it and making sure I hadn't set it off; the snow wasn't doing me any good since I hadn't known what type of trap it was, I could've set it off with any type of moment, and I couldn't be too careful. About to get up from ground level and continue forward to make sure I wasn't caught by anyone, I heard a gunshot from behind which made me turn around quickly as if ready to strike at anyone.

It wasn't any British redcoats that were after me: it was that persistent Haytham Kenway and Charles Lee, and it was Lee who had actually shot nearby wolves who were up to no good. Surely _they_ couldn't be up to any good either, so I gave them a harsh glare and took off again, running for the trees. All I could hear was Haytham coming after me,

"Wait! Come back!"

* * *

No one's POV: 

Penelope had reached the trees ahead of her and wouldn't stop; she couldn't let herself trust any of those blokes and she definitely wasn't going to stop and try. The snow from the trees fell with every step and jump she took, only to hit the ground below with a plumping echo roam through the forest she headed deeper into, "Stop running! I only wish to talk!" Haytham, who was struggling to run after the female, yelled. He thought it was absolutely **ridiculous** that he had to deal with such a stubborn woman just to retrieve information; she wouldn't stop running, and his patience was running out.

"I am not your enemy!" Haytham continued, trudging through the deep frozen precipitation that was slowing him down by the moment, "Please just hear me out!" Penelope didn't stop no matter how much he spoke, and she couldn't help but chuckle at his next retort, "Gods woman! Only let me speak!" He wasn't going to give up, and she was sort of hoping he would if she were to run more. The trees guided Penelope to her escape, but no matter how fast she went, she could still hear Kenway coming after her.

She stopped once she hit a platform in the trees, though, and looked back to see a pack of wolves detouring Haytham in his chase after her, _Let's see how you can handle nature_, she thought, wondering if the wolves would take him, or if he would succeed then continue after her. Haytham was beyond impatient and the wolves weren't making it any better for him, especially since it was not one, but three of them that insisted on devouring him piece by piece. One came at him, knocking him to the ground but he wasn't going to let a damned animal defeat him so easily; the male had thrown the animal off of him, gained his ground once more, and shot the beast to its end.

The other two had actually gone off elsewhere, it seemed they didn't feel the environment was satisfying anymore, "Now," Haytham said under his breath, examining his surroundings for Penelope, "Where have you fled off to." With a little bit of wandering, he ended up finding Penelope, who had noticed him as well; all that happened was that she started running off again through the trees, "You try my patience, woman!" he hollered, tailing not far behind; boy was this a waste of his time, but it apparently couldn't be simplified any other way than this! The chase continued for another few minutes, and eventually, Penelope was actually the one to get annoyed by the whole charade, and ended it. Yes, Haytham had been greatly bothered by the whole thing, but it wasn't his call to end the whole thing this time, it seemed.

Once Penelope stopped running, she stopped and turned to Haytham, seeing him catch up, "Are you crazy or something!?" she questioned, throwing her arms in the air; she was fed up with this, even though she was the one to run in the first place, "Me. Haytham. I come in peace," the man breathed, stopping in the snow and catching his breath as he observed Penelope; she seemed just as pestered as he was, "Why are you speaking like that?" Penelope asked, talking just as slow as he was; her tone spitting how irritated she was. Haytham noticed how she was acting, and it was obvious she had no manners what-so-ever, "Oh, sorry." "What do you want? I'm not up to listen to anything stupid," Penelope was cutting to the chase, and saw how Haytham was being friendlier again. He wanted something.

"Well, your name for one," Haytham snapped, noticing Penelope eye him a bit closely, as if she were taking her precautions before answering, "I'm Penelope," she responded in a cool tone, "Pleased to meet you, Penelope." "Now, tell me why you're here in front of my noble presence," she asked, trying to look mighty on her tip-toes, not letting the small talk become the main point of the conversation. Haytham didn't respond and dug into his pocket; he wasn't going to comment about her attitude, and just took out a small amulet and showed it to her. It had markings carved within, and Penelope, for some reason, recognized it.

* * *

"_And this, child, is one of the things we have left of the People Who Came Before," the Clan Mother spoke in a quiet tone, observing the markings of the cave once more. This was Penelope's first time to enter the cave, and she was intrigued by the markings that encircled her; it was knowledge in its own way, and she felt it had a dramatic past behind it. Penelope was ten years old: learning about part of her heritage in the Mohawk tribe and gaining experience within the Tribe's knowledge. _

"_It truly is amazing, I am sure to never forget it, Clan Mother."_

* * *

"Where did you get this? This isn't yours," Penelope questioned, grabbing the amulet from Haytham's hand a bit harshly; she recognized the markings to be just the same as she had seen back in the cave she had been years ago, and she wondered how he came to have this necklace, "From an old friend." "I've only seen these in another area," Penelope paused, glancing over to Haytham before back at the necklace she held, "I might know where it is." "Where?" he asked, showing his curiosity and dedication in his tone. Penelope hesitated, and thought about whether or not she should tell him, but she chose the latter idea, "Why should I tell you? You have no rank to see these things." "I saved your people. Does this mean nothing to you? Look. I am not the enemy," Haytham said, being strict in his appearance in the beginning, but backing off towards the end; he didn't want to scare her off again.

He had just earned a chance to earn her trust, and he wasn't going to lose it now, not after all that rubbish he had to endure. Sure, she was being quite rude about it all, but he wasn't going to let that get in the way. Penelope looked at Haytham as she put the necklace around her neck and hid it in her tunic, and smiled a bit, walking backwards to distance herself between him and herself, "Not far from here is a hill. Meet me there, and we'll see if you speak the truth, Mister Kenway," she said before leaving him. She left into the trees, and Haytham was left in the snow on his own within his own stress of the whole matter. Haytham watched as she disappeared from his sight, and sighed, only to investigate his surroundings once more to figure out what he would do in the mean time before meeting her once more; he didn't even know when to meet her there, really. She wasn't specific.

"Brilliant."

* * *

Nightfall had approached, and Haytham found himself at the correct hill; he was confident of himself the whole way up, and he saw himself seeing the back of Penelope's form with her feathers in her hair and hands behind her back once he came to the top. As he approached the female, he saw she was gazing upon the Wright Tavern; he had sensed her desire for something as he observed her expression, and he knew he would have to achieve whatever it may be: to earn her trust.

Over the time Penelope had camped around Concord and investigated the ideals of raiding her people, she had figured out an important piece of the problem – which in turn would be something critical for her success in her goals – the man who was in charge, a man known as the Bulldog. Penelope noticed Haytham approach her, but she didn't say anything for a moment until she took a sharp breath inward, "This town hosts soldiers who seek to drive my people from these lands. They're led by a man known as the Bulldog," she breathed, "Edward Braddock…" "You know the man? Is he your **pal** or something, like the others, such as Charles Lee?" Penelope questioned, getting a bit defensive on her part.

Haytham noticed her defensive attitude, and swore to himself he would teach her how to behave properly, and not like a woman whom hadn't learn her proper speaking abilities, "He is no friend of mine," he said, hearing a drop in the female's voice, "Every day more of my people are lost to men like him; he's a _dick,_ I swear." "Then I suggest we put a stop to it. Together. Doesn't that sound like a plan?" Haytham suggested as he stared at the Tavern that was lit up in the distance before looking at the pale skinned woman again; he was still slightly inquisitive on why the girl was like a Native in all ways, but **looked** like a normal British colonist.

"What do you think we should do?" Penelope asked quietly, not letting her impatience show. She didn't want to let any more time slip from her fingers that gave the enemy a time to suggest how to raid and kill the Tribes people, "That we kill Edward Braddock. But first we have to find him." And with that, the male jumped from the hill, performing a Leap of Faith into the haystack feet below; Penelope followed after, but her annoyance seemed to join as well, "Kill him? No **shit**, that's such an _obvious_ answer! Of course we have to find him and kill him, but **how**?" Penelope asked, following Haytham as they shortened the meters between them and the drinking area ahead.

For some reason, Haytham couldn't believe how ill-mannered and stubborn this woman was; it was amazing she was just about the same age as he was! What was needed was a lesson of speech and attitude, but then he believed she would improve. He didn't respond to her question, and just let the silence go between them, until Penelope spoke again, "Don't think I trust you. I don't." was all she said. Penelope didn't trust him, and she had good reason: first, he had called her a savage and threatened to kill her, then suddenly helped her in releasing her at Southgate, wanting help? Now he was helping her again? Penelope knew something was up, especially since he wanted her help in return: she was going to make him earn her trust one way or another, and this would be one way, "I know." "Yet you remain," Penelope responded almost instantly afterwards, following closely being Haytham's tail with her arms crossed across her chest.

"That I might prove you wrong," Haytham breathed; he normally wouldn't go along with this useless banter, but he thought it necessary for this woman to give him a chance. Though, Penelope ended up scoffing; she found it rather amusing that he thought she would easily come to trust him, "It will not happen." "So you say." "So I know," Penelope insisted abruptly, confident of her thoughts that they would not change. "Yet I remain."

The two eventually closed in on the tavern, and by then Penelope tried to calm herself, but it didn't seem to work considering the upcoming conversation didn't go too smooth. Before they entered, Haytham turned and stopped Penelope, staring at her, "Wait here. You are more likely to raise suspicions, if not muskets. We can't trouble ourselves with them." "This isn't the first time I've been here; I can beat the shit out of them if they come at me. I don't need no guard of any type," Penelope hissed before pushing her way past the taller man, entering the tavern.

"I hope so..." Haytham sighed heavily, seeing Penelope go to an area of the tavern. She seemed to have no trouble doing her own thing as he wandered to the nearest area of redcoat companied conversation. Two redcoats were speaking close by the bar, so Haytham wandered himself casually to the bar as if a normal patron, and listened.

In the mean time, Penelope was playing Six Men's Morris with a casual fellow near the front of the tavern, and didn't want to get in Mister Kenway's way, "So, what brings you here today?" the man she was playing against, asked. Penelope glanced up at him before thinking on her next move back on the board, and shrugged as if she were just here for the fun, "Bored. Nothing to do, thought I'd play a few rounds of Morris while I was around town, y'know?" she lied through her teeth as she made her move. The male didn't question her anymore, and as he thought on his next move, Penelope looked up to see Haytham making his smooth way to the other side of the tavern. He was looking for information, and it seemed he was just about done by the way he looked over at her; somehow he knew she'd see his expression_. Guess I don't get to finish this game_, she thought.

* * *

Haytham's POV:

It was supposed to be at that impulse of time, me and the female, Penelope, were to take our leave out of the drunken-filled tavern for the night, but it seems today wasn't at all going to go as I had mapped out. Just before I took my grasp on the knob of the exit door, I heard the voice of one of the redcoats I listened upon not long ago, "Oi, where you goin', cully?" he said in a rough tone, and I had sensed that he was approaching me slowly.

I took my turn to stare at him, and it wasn't anything I hadn't expected; they were probably referring to the girl, "Me?" I questioned either way, as if I had mistook their words, "No. The other cock robin." Brilliant, it was me. What a trouble. Glancing down before letting out a small smile, I looked back at the door before fully facing the four redcoats who had gathered into their own little posy, "Well... I uh.. I WAS leaving." "Oh? And now?" The man questioned as they slowly came slower, cutting the paces between us.

Detours surely were my schedule for today, "Well, now... I'm going to feed you your teeth." Dolefully enough, the insolent female by my side had to say something, "And you were worried I was going to be the problem." What made it awfully worse was the tone she was using! No matter, concern at this moment wasn't her, but the soldiers who came attacking me with their fists.

* * *

The fight was of no difficulty for me, but I did end with a petty injury on the side of my face; surely it was no big deal to worth fussing over. Though, as I made my way over to Penelope - who was keeping to herself at the bar - I saw and sensed her concern for my injury, "You're hurt," she said in a solicitous fashion, reaching behind the table top where an assortment of drinks lay. "It's nothing," I insisted while taking the time watching her, seeing her dab a piece of cloth with some sort of alcohol before caressing my wounded cheek gently, tending to it.

"This should stop the bleeding." For some reason, it surprised me to find a headstrong woman like her become so tender and concerning over something so small, I couldn't help but let a small smile carry onto my lips; even she seemed to relax at that moment as well, "That wasn't necessary, but thank you," I acknowledged. Maybe it was just an illusion, but I am quite sure I saw a hint of hesitation in her eyes before she came to her two feet, "We should move on and not waste time; it's stupid. Meet me at Braddock's camp when you're ready, Mister Kenway." This woman was a wild card.

* * *

No one's POV:

Even though Penelope didn't trust Haytham Kenway after everything that had happened so far with her experience with the man, after that event, she felt that she **wanted** to warm up to him. To open up to him and give him some type of _chance_, but her better self told her it wasn't a good idea; even her father would advise not to trust someone like him too easily. After she parted her way from the man, Penelope headed to the Bulldog's camp, just outside the perimeter where she wouldn't be detected; she set up camp and just… waited. Even if it would take a while for Haytham to show or not, Penelope wanted to be there, waiting, just in case he was to come faster than she expected.

Penelope didn't need to wait long, for she eventually saw the silhouette of Haytham strolling over to her, confident of himself as always. It was snowing quite hard at that time of night, so Penelope didn't clearly see him until he was right beside her, staring at the camp not far off from their current position. Once she gained her footing, Penelope took in Haytham's expression; the way his emotions seemed to rim his eyes, and how they scanned the environment. Finally, she broke the silence before she got ahead of herself, "Use the snowstorm to mask your approach," she muttered loud enough for him to hear; Haytham didn't seem to react to her words, though, since he had remained in the same stance as he had been in.

It made Penelope have a few doubts, "Having second thoughts?" she questioned in a stern tone, narrowing her eyes; her guard was rising up again. "Hardly. I can't just go in there and come out; I have to approach this carefully," he responded in a erect tone, before he looked at her with a contained expression. Penelope let out a smug smile, trying to be friendly, and nodded before Haytham took his leave; she watched him disappear in the white wonderland to carry out the job he insisted he was to carry out.

So, all she had to do for now is wait.

* * *

Time passed before Haytham returned, and as Penelope heard the crunching of the snow to signal his arrival, she jumped up and ran to him, smiling as if greeting a new friend. Wait, he wasn't her _friend—_that would be insane! Penelope couldn't have thought that, but she shove the thought to the back of her mind for now, "What did you find out?" she asked, looking up at him as Haytham showed her a map of plans, "Braddock has left to rally his troops. They're marching on Fort Duquesne. It'll be a while yet 'til they're ready, which gives us time to form a plan," he explained, observing the plans just as much as Penelope did.

Penelope wondered how long he was meaning, but assumed it wouldn't be before winter's end; she didn't respond for a moment as she pondered on what the next move would be, then she looked up at Haytham once more, "We will ambush them here, near the river." A pause as she pointed to an area on the map after she looked down at it again, "Go and gather your allies by then, and I will do the same. I will send word when it is time to strike," she explained, but before Penelope could take the time to flee, Haytham stopped her, and stared at her, sensing her body tense under his touch, "Aside from all of that, I have a request." "Go on, spit it out," Penelope responded, relaxing a bit as he let her arm go, which he had grabbed.

"Seeing as you are ill-mannered, and I assume, lacking the abilities to defend yourself, I would like to change that. It's rather odd, I know, but I feel it's my… responsibility as a man of my abilities," he explained, which made Penelope scoff in disbelief. Did he really think he was_ that_ great? That she was **ill-mannered**, and not able to_ defend_ herself? _**Rubbish**_! "You really think I don't have manners!?" she questioned, taking a step away from him, "I'm perfectly polite, and _I know my shit_! I can defend myself, too! Sure, I haven't practiced in like…" she paused, counting the years, "Over five years, but that means nothing!" "You have just showed me the opposite of what you insist, Penelope," Haytham insisted, causing Penelope to lose her temper.

Penelope charged at Haytham, about to knock him over, but he had dodged her attack, only making her almost tumble over her own two feet. She let out a groan of frustration as she took a sharp turn around to go back at him, but right before she was able to hit him, Haytham grabbed her by the arm and tumbled her over, causing her to land face first into the snow. "As proved: you need more practice on your proper speaking to become adequate, as well as some brushing up on your… fighting abilities," Haytham announced with confidence as Penelope rose from the snow. Man, was he a pain to her, but either way she gave up; she gave in and decided to let him have his glory.

She had to admit, she never really took consideration into her manners, even when her father constantly nagged her about it, and she never thought about the outcome of never practicing meant rusting up on her abilities… At least she would be able to get to know the man this way. As she brushed off the snow that stuck to her clothing, Penelope finally sighed with great exaggeration and stared at Haytham with un-enthusiastic eyes, "Whatever you say, Mister Kenway. I'll let you 'teach' me, seeing as you're more experienced." She said, seeing a bit of a conceited smirk from the man in front of her: he knew he had won this battle.

"Splendid. It's going to be a pleasure to give you a lesson in proper manners, skills, and perhaps provide a tidbit of knowledge or two."

* * *

**Ooohhhh, it seems Haytham will be teaching Penelope how to behave, and how to properly keep up with her fighting! Seeing as the two are starting to slowly get to know one another, any predictions? What would Connor think? Haha. I encourage reviews, and I thank those who are reviewing already!**

**See you in chapter seven!**


	7. Chapter Seven: An Unsubtle Approach

**Author's Note: So, Haytham decides to teach Penelope a thing or two, but she seems barely cooperative in the whole ideal. We shall see now how that goes! ****Now, read onwards, fellows!**

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which slightly alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Day One, An Unsubtle Approach

_"Whatever you say, Mister Kenway. I'll let you 'teach' me, seeing as you're more experienced." She said, seeing a bit of a conceited smirk from the man in front of her: he knew he had won this battle._

_"Splendid. It's going to be a pleasure to give you a lesson in proper manners, skills, and perhaps provide a tidbit of knowledge or two."_

No one's POV: 

It was early the next morning, and a fresh layer of white puffed power covered the old snow of the day before, and Penelope was walking through Concord once more, but had a rather nervous expression on her face. She didn't know how the day would go, or what she even got herself into; it made her more unsure of herself the more she thought of how experienced in manners and fighting Haytham was, "Well… Let's get this over with," she said once she came to the edge of the town. The female stared at what lay in front of her, and wondered if she should just turn back now; the house in which Haytham stated to meet at dawn was there, intimidating her more by the second.

"On second thought…" she trailed to herself, about to turn around, but she heard a cough from the house; Haytham was waiting for her by the front door with an unfazed expression, obviously not up for dilly-doling at this time of the day. Penelope knew she had no choice now, so took her time going over to the house to where Haytham stood, and once there, she tried standing straight to make sure she looked as if she was up for this, "Good moorrrniiinnnggggg, siiirrrrr," she stretched in a sarcastic type tone, not really noticing it was rather rude.

The male in front of her sighed; shaking his head before opening the door they were to walk through, "We have a long road ahead of us, I can see…"

Once the two entered the house, Penelope looked around the observed the place; the fire place in the living space, and the small kitchen that lay ahead by the back door, "So, what's up first?" she asked, looking over at Haytham and poking him in the arm. Haytham didn't respond as he strolled to the kitchen, then to the back door; he opened the door and showed her to the back yard area, where trees were everywhere, and a space of untouched snow seemed to expand onwards, "We can either start on your manners for the morning inside, or go out there and brawl with one another in the cold. Your call—" "Let's go outside in the snow! Fuck yeah!" Penelope cheered, about to run out into the snow again before Haytham grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back rather forcefully. The female was confused at the sudden gesture and looked up at Kenway, raising an eyebrow, "Watch your language; it certainly is the main issue in which you cannot seem to contain," Haytham pointed out.

It had seemed their lessons had already started, and Penelope knew she wouldn't like it. Either way, they started out with the fighting portion for the morning; Haytham had informed Penelope they would be working on proper speech and performance at their first meal, something Penelope _wasn't_ looking forward to. The first twenty or so minutes went by quickly, since Penelope had the basics beyond mastered, but once it came to more advanced things, Haytham always came out on top.

They had tried doing many head-on tactics which Penelope didn't do the best in, so then they transitioned to sneak-attacks, ones that Penelope would most likely use when not in the mood to being detected by anyone. The results of Penelope's practice caused the snow to become disturbed and scattered into multiple piles, bushes to be stepped on, dirt to be revealed in areas where less layers of snow lay, and tree ruble to fall into the snow from making so much ruckus.

By now, Penelope was in the trees; she had to sneak up on Haytham and attack him swiftly. She found a good spot above him, but just before she jumped down at the male, she made too much noise jumping off the tree branch which caused Haytham to step to the side. With a yelp, Penelope landed face first into the snow, which made Haytham sigh in disapproval, "Stop making so much noise, a deaf old man could probably here you – seriously!" "Hey, I'm **sorry**! I'll try again," Penelope snapped back as she got up and walked away.

She hid in the bushes this time, and watched as Haytham stood about like a normal person waiting for someone else to meet them or some sort. Penelope would've gotten it this time, but right as she got close enough to the man, she yelled out at him like a barbarian in war, which in turn resulted in being thrown into the snow again. "Ugghhh! I had you that time, really! You must've cheated!" Penelope spat as she got herself out of the snow; once she was on her feet, she started to brush herself off, especially her hair since she didn't really appreciate getting it wet.

"You're making too much damned noise – Anyone would be able to catch you attacking them!" Haytham protested, sighing once more before he grabbed Penelope by the shoulders and turned her around to face the house, "Here, I will attest the differences between you and I, then you can try once more. Does that sound like a fair share?" he suggested; Penelope only groaned in frustration as he went off to hide. Penelope just stood there, waiting with her arms crossed across her chest and listening to her surroundings. The silence made her wonder if he was ever going to strike, and her patience was quickly running out; something she had to work on. The anticipation finally got the best of her, though, and Penelope turned around to see what was taking too long, but had never succeed in turning fully around. She was knocked over backwards, and all she saw was Haytham before she landed in a deeper pile of snow than before.

She glared at Haytham who was standing in front of her, not far away, with his pride and confidence showing, "Jackass..." she breathed, not saying anything afterwards as she struggled to get out of the snow. The female tried again to succeed in her attempt to sneaking up on Haytham, but sadly enough, she failed on the third time just as badly as the first. It was obvious the girl didn't take Haytham's demonstration to heart, and didn't follow through; it in turn created her defeat. Haytham suggested taking a break as he saw her get more and angrier each time, but just as fast as his suggestion came, her rejection followed suit.

* * *

The two ended up practicing all the way till about mid-day, and it seemed Penelope didn't improve at all; she wasn't listening to Haytham's advice, which was her downfall. He knew if Penelope listened, she would improve quicker than a rock skipping water, but he had no control over the moment where she would take the time to do so. "Let's go eat inside, your frustration won't help in any manner of improving," Haytham said, giving Penelope a look as if he wasn't suggesting it, and she had no choice but to do as he said. Penelope didn't argue; she was feeling rather hungry, and rather parched, so thought a break wouldn't be a half-bad idea. Once the meal was prepared, and the two were sitting across from each other at the small wooden table, Haytham took his time eating while Penelope actually started mixing her food and made faces within the plate, "So, you obviously can't do it all in a day. How do you plan on helping me?" "Give it three days." Was all Haytham responded with, and it was obvious in his tone that he didn't wish to speak while trying to enjoy his meal.

Penelope watched him for a moment, but then started eating her own food, "You sound pretty confident of yourself," she remarked through mouthfuls of food, not even looking up at Haytham as she did do. The male sitting across from her stopped eating and stared at her with a slightly disturbed expression, and after a minute or two, she noticed and looked back up at him while wiping her mouth with her napkin, "What?" she muffled, barely making her question understandable, "First, stop that immature notion of eating with your mouth full of food," he started before leaning over to her and flicking her elbows to make sure she didn't lean them onto the table, "And don't rest your elbows on the tabletop, it's highly rude. I would expect you to know that much, but it seems we're going to basics," he finished, going back to sitting properly and finishing his own food.

Penelope observed Haytham for a moment, tried to mimic him and his gestures, and continued eating, but all of her efforts seemed to fail since she returned to her habits. Once the meal was over and the two cleaned up, Haytham looked at Penelope as she cleaned the tabletop to make sure it was cleaned to the right extent, "Where did you learn such intolerable actions?" "I didn't _**learn**_ them anywhere; I just never_ listened_ to my father when he tried making me learn to be proper. I thought it was a waste of time, and that I'd never go anywhere where I'd need to know it," Penelope explained briefly before yawning allowed and walking over to Haytham, but before she finished her expression of being tired, Haytham grabbed her wrist and made it go over her mouth as a reminder to cover her mouth as she yawned.

Penelope couldn't help but let a small smirk escape her lips as Haytham left to go back outside for more physical practice due to his gesture, and decided to make this a game, in a way. She didn't take much of it seriously since everything he had nagged her about in her manners – she knew. Why didn't she say anything of it? Penelope wanted to see how much effort he would put into teaching her concepts. Sure, she truly did fail at her manners and at her fighting abilities, but she knew the basics of each; she proved her knowledge of fighting basics, but was oblivious when it came to being polite in any sense at all.

One thing she learned about Haytham so far in the day, was something that was included in his character – he didn't see failure as an option, and seemed to dedicate himself to success no matter what. Penelope followed Haytham outside, but before he could spot her, she ended up in one of the trees and threw snow at the man. The cold powder hit him smack-dab in the side of the head which knocked his tri-fold hate over, and caused him to lose some of his patience; he searched around the area for the girl, and ended up finding her smirking ear to ear at the top of one of the highest trees.

"Uch… Penelope, get down here this instant! There is no time for cocking about!" he hollered, showing the irritancy on his face, which made Penelope smirk even more, if that had been possible, "Come and make me, Mister Kenway!" she challenged, getting more snow from another nearby branch that held enough snow to make another ball. Haytham sighed heavily, not up for the charade, but none the less didn't reject her challenge; he wasn't the best tree climber in the colonies, but he was going to put his efforts in if it meant to continue their productive goals of the day.

It was a struggle, but Haytham got pretty far up the tree before slipping from the ice on the branches, now hanging to keep up, "This is truly unnecessary, Penelope! Must you insist this childish game!?" he questioned aloud as Penelope came to the branch he was hanging from. Penelope stared at the man with a smug expression, and eventually plucked each of his fingers from the branch, causing him to fall from the tree and into a huge pile of snow, "I believe so," she responded afterwards, containing a small laugh. Haytham trudged out of the heavy pile and looked up, but just as his head rose, a snow ball hit him smack dab in the face as an extra response from Penelope.

"Bloody brilliant, Penelope, really!" Haytham vented, losing all of his patience by now as he wiped the snow from his face; Penelope was laughing as she made her way down from the tree, thinking she should end the act. Though, as soon as she got down from the tree and tried to approach Haytham, she ended up getting pushed into the pile of snow Haytham landed in not long before, "Hey, I thought we were going to stop the childish crap!?" Penelope complained, getting out of the snow just as Haytham did before. The male in front of her was fixing his hat back onto his head, and continued brushing extra snow off him so he wouldn't get soaked later on, and merely shrugged, "I would figure you deserved that one, considering you did start that barmy act."

Penelope didn't respond, she just shrugged and started to wander off towards the forest; she didn't want to work on anything, and she just wanted to enjoy the rest of the day. Possibly get to know the man she would be spending time with for the next three days, "Where do you think you're off to?" she heard Haytham's voice, causing her to turn around and walk back in the direction of the house, "I _**was**_ going to go wander about, but y'know, some people decided to stop me," she mused, hearing Haytham sigh as he seemed to follow behind her, "I see you are not up for anything else involving productivity, so we shall—" he couldn't finish his sentence, because Penelope did something he didn't expect.

Penelope reached up from her tip-toes and flicked off his hat, grabbing it and putting it on with one hand as she grabbed his sword with her other, unsheathing it from its scabbard. The hat was a bit big for her, so she tilted it upwards before running off and waving the sword in all directions as if fighting the air; she was certainly having another childish moment, especially when she came to the idea of taking his hat.

Could this woman be of anymore trouble? Haytham didn't even know why he believed she could have sense knocked into her, but he had already promised her he was capable of handling her: failure was evidently **not **an answer. He ran after her, but before he could come at her, Penelope turned and pointed his own sword directly at him, "Stand back, I must have my space from _peasants_ like you!" Penelope said in an over-exaggerated tone, trying to impersonate the male, "Charming – now, let's go back inside and quit this." "Who are **you** to tell me what to do? Haytham Kenway takes **no **orders from low-class individuals!" Penelope wouldn't stop, and tried to contain her laughter as she circled back towards the house.

* * *

The rest of the day was filled with – in Haytham's opinion – useless events that did no benefit to anyone; Penelope kept avoiding Haytham's suggestions to continue their progress, and she kept mocking him every so often. The sun was now gone over the mountains, and the moon had made its appearance, declaring nightfall over the Frontier. Penelope and Haytham turned in for the night, and the two were by the fireplace on separate sides of the room, having cups of tea to relax and keep warm, taking in the silence that roamed around them. Haytham's belongings were strewn about next to the front door along with Penelope's shoes; she didn't need to take off any jacket or hat of any sort.

It was silent for a long amount of time, and Penelope had caught herself dozing off as she gazed at the fire they were around; she would always find comfort into it, and remembered when she would sit by the fireplace like she was back home in the Davenport Manor. The very thought made her think of her father, though; what was he thinking? Did he think she was hurt, or did he think she ran away? Surely she would be in serious trouble on her return, but oddly enough, through all her hardheaded thoughts, Penelope accepted that fate.

She was okay with it, and that thought seemed to disappear within the corners of her mind as she glanced away from the flames and at Haytham who was drinking his tea and thinking; his eyes were shut and Penelope could see he really was relaxed. His face was illuminated by the bright light oncoming from the fire, and she found it rather... charming, she could say; it made her feel something odd, but Penelope couldn't pinpoint it. As her thoughts wandered more, Penelope started to admit to herself something: over this day they spent together, she felt she had begun to slowly trust the man more. Like she was making a new friend, and she was just about to let him into her circle of kindness.

That was when Penelope rose from her spot slowly and made her way over to Haytham as quietly as possible, and actually succeeded at something for the day; she was so quiet, he didn't notice her as she approached him and sat beside him. He did, however, when he sensed her unsubtle presence, which made him open his eyes and stare down at her; Penelope wasn't uptight or intending to be loud, and just stared at her tea cup, "Y'know," she started quietly, "You're not that bad. I thought you'd be much worse, really; like one of those people who don't really expand to and adapt to things."

Penelope looked up at Haytham and let a kind smile approach her lips; Haytham was a bit taken back by her kind words since she had been so ruthless and wild earlier in the day. It was probably a truly unexpected gesture for the time, but neither the less did Haytham accept it with open arms, "I accept your amiable words," he responded quietly, not quite in the mood for any type of conversation while he was enjoying his tea. Penelope noticed, and just smiled again before getting up, "So, you sure you can teach me everything I _must _know in the next two days?" "Absolutely, but only if you are willing to cooperate to the maximum ability you have," Haytham replied, sipping his tea once before looking into the fire like Penelope had before she went over to him previously.

Penelope watched him for a moment, and then nodded, not saying anything else but a simple good night. She assumed it would be best to go to bed earlier than usual since he would most likely wake her up by dawn, something she had to get used to for the next couple of nights.

* * *

Penelope's POV:

After I found my room for the next few nights, I quietly closed the door behind me and ran to the bed, landing on it with a big thud; I was beat, and couldn't help but smile as I thought on the day's events while feeling the soft texture of the blanket that was on top of all the sheets. It seemed there was three or so blankets, and I knew I wasn't going to be cold; I didn't waste time figuring it out though, so I buried myself under all the covers once I got my 'feels' together.

Today wasn't that bad; I mean, even though he did pick out probably all the flaws I had, I felt I learned some things, even though I couldn't list them out this very second. I didn't believe him when he said he could accomplish the goal of helping me improve in three small and fast-coming days, though, so I did have low expectations at that. True, I did avoid a lot of practice today by goofing off, but it was nice to have a little fun, especially with someone new; I felt he would warm up to it eventually, and not be such a party-pooper, always wanting to do something that would benefit someone in some fashion.

Even though I wasn't aiming towards learning much about Haytham today, I sort of did; I learned he wasn't a man acceptable of failure, and that he is a man of authority. I don't think he's too open to showing his feelings, either, considering my experience being around him; I couldn't be sure on that guess though since I _barely_ know him compared to others. Aside from all of that, I enjoyed today; I think he'll be a new friend of mine, honestly, but that could change within the next few hours.

All I gotta do is have a good attitude towards it all.

* * *

Haytham's POV:

I didn't bother watching the woman leave the area, nor did I contemplate onto her words; I simply left them as they were, her words and her thoughts, not mine. It seemed through her obdurate attitude though, that she had potential by the end of these next few days; I had sensed something earlier that told me that, and it could be benefit for the Order. I planned to observe her more into detail to see if she really did fit the standards, and I would see how my hypothesizes would actually come to an end.

That was the least of my worries, though; I still had to make sure that she would show the way to the storehouse of the First Civilization as promised, and I had to carry the responsibility of making sure the death of Edward Braddock would be absolute. The thoughts started to clamor my mind, so to calm them for the night to be able to rest at ease; I rose from my spot in the living space, snuffed out the fire, and led myself to bed after properly placing the now empty tea cup in its place.

After the mad events in the day, the ability to loosen up in bed for the night was quite soothing; the silence wouldn't be disturbed, and there were no surprises to be in store. Surely, if the damned woman knew to at least let a man earn his rest.

Seeing as today didn't go as planned, before going into the world of sleep and dreams, I mapped out how the next two days would go; it seemed Penelope needed to go one step at a time, so I would resort to doing so.

* * *

**Soooo, day one! Didn't go too well; well, at least not how Haytham planed it to be! Poor Penelope; failing at practically everything, only to resort to goofing off xD. Haha. Well, we'll see how it goes for the two of them! Predictions? **

**I truly hope I'm keeping Haytham in character; I'm trying to expand my knowledge of his character to do so! Well, aside from all that manner, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I do hope you all enjoy it!**

**I shall post the next chapter after Thanksgiving, it's a day for family time! **

**Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!**


	8. Chapter Eight: Crossed Swords

**Author's note: I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a good one! (: I know I did; cookies, pie, and cake galore! Oh, and don't forget the wonderful turkey my mom put effort into cooking! Anywho, thanks to those who are reading! Now, we shall go onto chapter eight – Day two of Penelope's training, and Haytham's attempt to buff her up; read on! **

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Day Two, Crossed Swords

_Seeing as today didn't go as planned, before going into the world of sleep and dreams, I mapped out how the next two days would go; it seemed Penelope needed to go one step at a time, so I would resort to doing so._

No one's POV: 

Penelope's plans for the next day was too get off the right side of the bed, so she had decided to make it up to Haytham by making breakfast in the morning, something she knew she was good at. She had learned from many people how to cook a variety of cuisine, so her confidence was up in the sky for this mission of hers. The woman had woken up hours before dawn and crept outside the house to fetch a bounty, and once within success, managed to find her way back without trouble and on schedule with much time before dawn would hit and the sun would greet itself hello.

Once Penelope came home, she had started the meal by getting everything she needed ready, and once the morning food had started to cook; she waited right by it to make sure it wouldn't over cook. She found a seat on the floor beside the flames and just relaxed, keeping her legs up to her chest and her head rested on her knees; she was a bit tired, and wanted the meal to be done in time. Winter gouse covered in pork back fat was being prepared, something Penelope knew well how to make and certainly had no problem with.

The silence was overtaking the house once Penelope finished the preparation of the winter gouse. She was plating, and hoped Haytham would wake up before she was finished setting up the table so she wouldn't have to disturb him by waking him. She had the table made with napkins and ready plates on opposite sides of the table with additions in the middle of the tabletop that included salt and butter. Penelope wasn't aware of what Haytham would like for a drink so she was going to wait to ask him; once the table was set up and ready, she took a step back and made sure it was perfect. "Okay… Salt, butter… Napkins, food, and I'll make the drink when he gets down here," she said to herself quietly as her gaze shifted to the dark staircase that led upstairs.

_Should I go wake him up? Maybe he's awake already and just getting ready for the day?_ She questioned herself before sighing and puffing out her cheeks as her eyes flashed down to the wooden floorboards under her average sized feet. It took a moment of thinking, but within the minute the female was walking up the stairs quietly, making sure not to make a sound; once she peeked from the stair case out into the hallway, she saw Haytham closing the door to his room and making his way in her direction. Penelope stood straight again so she wasn't leaning around the corner, and just waited for Haytham to appear. Due to being quiet, however, he almost bumped into her if he hadn't noticed her, "Good morning!" she said a bit quickly as he brushed by her to head downstairs, "And to you as well," Haytham responded with an ordinary tone, "I made the morning's meal, but I didn't know what you'd like for a drink," Penelope followed after, seeing Haytham actually go straight to the table and relax in the chair; he was willing to eat her food.

"If it's not any trouble, I could fancy a cup of tea with this…" a pause, it seemed he was looking for a pair of words, "Gouse. It's quite good," Penelope finished for him before going straight to her new task – making him tea. She didn't know what flavor of tea to make, so she went with the first type she found in the cupboards – white tea. While the female waited for the water to come to a calm boil, she watched Haytham eat his food in peace; she wondered if he favoured the gouse, but decided not to ask, "So…" she started, "How did you sleep? You weren't cold, were you?" "It was a tad too warm, which in turn disturbed my slumber, but minus that – it was quite pleasing."

"That's good." Was Penelope's only response and she just let him finish his food. Once the tea was ready in the next few minutes, she poured him a cup, set it down beside his plate, then went to her seat and started to eat her food. It had cooled down from sitting there longer than she anticipated, but Penelope didn't complain – it wasn't a big deal, and she wasn't going to complain over nothing. By the time she was half way done with her food, Haytham was leaning in his chair sipping his tea, about ready for the day; Penelope took that as a hint that she should hurry and finish.

Instead of finishing though, she decided to just start cleaning up instead so that wouldn't waste time either. She rose from her chair, picked up her plate and napkin, and set it on the counter in the kitchen to clean later; the girl made her rounds back and forth another two times, and eventually went back to her seat to watch Haytham finish his drink – which caught his eye and made him cock an eyebrow in response, "Hmm, is something the matter?" he questioned in an upright tone, causing Penelope to sit up straight from her slouched position and shake her head, "No, not at all. Just waiting for you," she responded before yawning and standing up, "What are we doing today? Fighting? Hunting? Oh! Are we gonna make snowmen!?" she asked, getting overly excited as she seemed to lean towards Haytham, getting overly close.

Haytham leaned away before getting out of his chair on the opposite side, turning his back to her as he strode over to the kitchen area, putting his tea cup by the other dishes Penelope was going to clean, "I will perceive your progress through the day and we will do as I see fit; we may stick to the simplest of tactics, or just go to your final test. Though we _certainly_ won't cock about making silly men of snow, let that be clear." "I have final tests for this stuff?" Penelope questioned as if it were a surprise to her; she stared at Haytham with a dumbfounded expression, which he gazed upon once he turned his body in her direction, "Why of course, why wouldn't you? It's logical that if you were to go through all of this labour that you have a test in the end to confirm your learning, am I wrong?"

"No, you're right, you're right," Penelope responded while dragging her feet towards the back door; she was ready to get all the instruction over with so she could pass the tests and have fun, "Oh, I almost forgot – it'll also confirm my words that I would teach you in _three days, _and **succeed**_**.**_" Haytham's remark made Penelope roll her eyes and grumble, but she let it pass within the second as she ran into the snow and jumped into a big pile, smiling as she rolled around with enthusiasm.

"Penelope, get your indolent arse out of the snow. We have no time for detours," Haytham sighed as he stepped into the snow, hearing it crunch under his feet; he had not much patience, and wasn't willing to goof off that day. Penelope did as told after a few more rolls in the cold substance, and skipped over to the taller man with a childish smile, though she said nothing as she continued to stare into the male's dark hues, which made Haytham tense a bit; he wasn't used to be stared at in such a fashion, "Alright then." He paused, strolling over to the area of ground where he had stood before when Penelope was practicing sneak attacks, "We shall begin on sneak approaches; try and attack me without getting yourself noticed. I am sure you remember the tips I have informed you about prior to this day, so you shouldn't have a problem - unless you forgot." The man shifted his gaze down to his feet, making himself act like a normal civilian – waiting for Penelope's attempt to prove she learned something… if she actually did.

* * *

His words actually somewhat intimidated Penelope, really – he made it seem like she was required to succeed this time if she wasn't a complete _pillock_. Instead of forgetting his words, though, Penelope took the effort to actually remember them; she knew they had importance, so instead of blowing it off carelessly like she usually did with things, she thought about it all. This time, Penelope decided to take it the harder route – approaching the male by ground route, and not by trees from above.

_Watch me take you out the harder way, conceited little mouse, _she thought as she got to the starting area in the bushes; the easiest way for Penelope to see this was to relate this to cats and mice, in a way. She didn't know why, but referring it to something simple eased her to think of all the worst outcomes of the actual event and contain her concentration. The girl started to make her way closer to Haytham by creeping through the bushes, and eventually, as she got to the edge of the bushes, she ran at Haytham as swiftly as possible and pushed him forward as hard as she could.

She succeeded, yes, but once she pushed the male, she realized she put _too_ much force – and ended up tripping forward as well; Penelope landed on Haytham's back, which made him go into the snow more, and have her panic as she rolled off and rose to her feet, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me, I'm **deeply** sorry!" she apologized, not wanting to risk getting bit back. Haytham picked himself out of the snow and brushed all the white powder off of him as his expression showed aggravation, "You've taken advice into consideration and succeeded, but it seems your ability to _exasperate_ one **always** follows suit. Best be that you work on that as well," the man said in a bit of an intolerant tone.

"I said I was sorry, jeez," Penelope snapped back, not up for any talk; she wanted to finish this whole thing. And that's what they did, actually – Haytham tested her on her basic skills again, her hiding abilities, fighting abilities, and even hit and run abilities. By the end of the day, about three hours before supper, all they had was the final test. The two were sitting on the stairs of the front porch and Penelope was actually a normal distance from Haytham this time – not keeping caution like she had before hand.

"Okay, so, what's the final test, buddy?" "I don't consider us 'buddies', Miss Penelope – we are merely companions for the moment due to a deal and agreement," Haytham responded before standing onto his feet and striding over to the main dirt road that was barely covered with snow; Penelope followed after him, and saw him observe the angle of the sun in the vast blue sky that was surprisingly clear that day, "You have ten minutes to go and raid a British redcoat convoy. It will test your ability to sneak up, kill, and steal all at once – I'm positive you can handle but a small task like that in such a big amount of time, am I right? Your time starts now." "Ten minutes!? Where do I even find one!?" Penelope questioned, raising her voice as her expression dropped.

The girl had no idea where she'd find a convoy, let alone how she would **steal **from it; she started at Haytham for at least a minute, watching him look around as if not noticing her, "Well?" she said, seeing him shift him gaze to her, "Tick tock, Penelope – you have a good eight and a half minutes, and you're not even missing in my line of sight," Haytham remarked, only to see Penelope sprint off down the road like a road runner; she was panicking now that she had lost a good two minutes just because the girl was expecting an answer from him.

Penelope entered the main square of Concord and had _**no**_ idea what she was doing; where was she going to find a convoy of British soldiers here in Concord? Acting fast, the girl approached a nearby market and observed the area for the market owner, slapping the wooden stand to get his attention since he was farther away than he was supposed to be, "What!? Whaddya want?" he hollered, walking over to Penelope, "Have you seen a British convoy pass by?! I'm in a hurry!" Penelope asked; the market owner gave no response though, and just pointed down the main road – the way to Lexington. _Great, just my luck_, Penelope groaned to herself and didn't ask any questions, she just ran as fast as her two legs could take her and headed down the road like a jackrabbit running from a pack of wolves.

She probably lost two minutes there, and after a while of running, Penelope saw the British troops behind the convoy – four in the back, and she guessed two troops up front by the horses. The troops were having a casual conversation without eye contact, and without taking this with full-on precaution… Penelope just ran up to the back two soldiers and stabbed them both through the chest, "Woh! He—" the two that were alive tried to warn the soldiers up front by yelling, but weren't able too, Penelope threw a knife at one, then attacked the last and strangled him.

It was a slim success, but Penelope took no care for it – she had no time and figured it wouldn't matter in the end, as long as she got the job done. She jumped into the back of the cart and rummaged about, looking for anything of value and just sighed, "What am I supposed to take?" she asked aloud, but then just took all she could carry – one big box and small boxes on top. Jumping out and almost tripping, she ran back towards 'home base' before time ran out.

* * *

"You failed your test, congratulations." Those words crushed Penelope when she heard it, and it caused her to collapse into the snow and lye there as if she were killed, "How did I **fail?**" she asked in a complaining voice, not accepting defeat, "Well, first – you failed to complete the task within the ten minutes I assigned you, and second – you didn't kill all the soldiers before stealing the items the convoy contained." "Woh, how did you figure that out!?" Penelope spat, jumping up to her feet after struggling to even gain balance, "You did just tell me now, and it's obvious when you have two British troops rambling about like imbeciles yelling they were robbed," he retorted in return, obviously not impressed.

Penelope groaned, face palming herself on the forehead before sitting back in the snow; she was out of ideas… That was, until she remembered they had forgotten about something they hadn't covered, "Wait!" Penelope got back onto her feet and raised her eyebrows as a clever looking smirk appeared upon her lips, "Go on, I'm listening," Haytham said, putting his hands behind his back as he gazed down at the female with very little interest, "Okay, so – if I win, we get to make snowmen **and** it makes up for my test failure." "And if I win?" Haytham asked, raising an eyebrow slightly as he altered his standing position a bit; Penelope thought, then nodded, "If _you _win, you are free of choice on your award, since I don't know what you would see as an award," she explained briefly, causing Haytham's gaze to shift away from Penelope as he thought, returning once he responded. "Very well. Now that you have discussed the awards for the ideal, what is the challenge?"

"I challenge you to a battle."

* * *

"Surely you can't be serious?" Haytham responded – he wasn't taking any of this literally, and he didn't plan to anytime soon. It frustrated Penelope, oh, how it did, "I'm serious! I want to make snowmen with you, and I want to prove that I did buff up on my fighting abilities! Stop thinking you're always better then _everyone_!" Penelope hollered, hitting Haytham on the side of the arm, which seemed to trigger the male's patience, "I assure you," he started, leaning towards Penelope as a threatening look appeared on his face, "I am an expert swordsman, and I am skilled in the business of death. I take no vanity in my skill. Simply, I am good at it." The way he said his words scared Penelope, in a way, but she was still confident to at least get him on the ground once.

So, Penelope took advantage of her game, and set a rule she knew would be cheating, in a way, but it'd give her more confidence, "Since you are obviously better than me by hundreds of times," she started, twiddling her fingers as Haytham stood straight and widened the distance between them both, "I think to make it fair… I win if I get you off your feet at least once, and you win by the obvious terms. Y'know, just cause you're _so much better_." Those things were true, but Penelope was being a cheater for using it for her advantage, at least in her book; she wouldn't know how others would think of it, but her opinion is what mattered to her at the moment.

"I accept your challenge then." Haytham drew out his sword, and held it out towards Penelope, ready to begin the match. Penelope didn't have a sword, which created her to tell the man in front of her to wait a minute until she came back with a sword, "If you are going to challenge someone to a spar, you should at least take the courtesy to have a sword at your side beforehand…" he breathed to himself as if she were there; Penelope was trying as fast as she could to go get a sword and return. Five minutes passed and she returned with a childish smile on her face, "Okay I'm -" she couldn't finish, Haytham had already tried to strike her.

He came at her with precision and perfection; it was a slim get away on Penelope's part that saved her from getting hit. Only then did she realize she could actually be hurt from the man; _she_ didn't plan to hurt _him,_ but she knew **he** would probably **hurt her**. Most of the dual involved Penelope dodging Haytham's attacks and not even getting a strike, which made her more conflicted with her tactics, but none the less did she end up resorting to something she knew Haytham couldn't do – climb trees. The tallest tree in the area was an easy climb, so that was the exit she took, only to get Haytham to watch her like a wolf from down below, "We will be here all night if you cower away like that!"

"Better than getting stabbed by you when I know I have no chance at the moment!" Penelope spat back, leaning against the trunk of the tree that was by her; she wasn't near the top, but high enough to be out of Haytham's range. She knew he was itching to win already and finish childish games, but she wasn't going to just jump into the whole thing and lose. Though, the coin seemed to flip once Haytham suddenly walked away. The female's interest at its peak, she seemed to take the bait when she slowly and quietly got herself out of the tree; it didn't end well though. Before she approached Haytham, she was swiped from under her feet, only to be informed in a moments noticed that she collapsed to the ground with a thud to see the glare from Haytham's blade in front of her face, "I would think this would be sufficient enough to say you are at a loss?"

"Fuck that," Penelope hissed, kicking her foot under Haytham's feet right after. The comeback was lucky, and she caught him surprisingly off guard; Haytham fell backwards onto his arse and stared at Penelope with a rather… shocked expression. Penelope sat up and smirked at him ear to ear, leaning her elbows on her knees, "I think that says I win this round, right?" she said in a rather mocking fashion, "Your pride was showing, so I took advantage of it. Thought you won there, _didn't you_?" "Please, I won before you could even deliver such a _cheap_ blow," Haytham countered, obviously not accepting defeat.

Penelope didn't push it any further, and she just wiped her smirk off her face as she rose to her feet; she held her hand out to Haytham to help him up, but he got himself up and wiped the snow off his behind, he wasn't in a splendid mood. "Well, now that _**I**_ won – we're going to go make snowmen. Guess I pass my test, too," Penelope retorted, only to get a mildly irritated look from Haytham in return; she could tell he was conflicted about the judging of the match, but she didn't take it too personal. Besides, she knew she cheated.

* * *

Haytham, due to Penelope's picky mind, ended up following Penelope away from Concord and into the forests where predators and other animals roamed about; she had insisted they needed a 'perfect piece of snow' for their activity. Haytham found it completely unnecessary and thought it would be perfectly fine to do such games not far from the house they were using for the rest of their stay, "Do we really have to go this far?" Haytham questioned, looking around to see they had came to the river and bridge that lead north. Penelope was a few feet ahead, and looked over her shoulder at Haytham with a small smile, "Yes, we do, but this place will be perfect," she said, going over to the fresh snow on the side of the road.

He didn't see the whole point in making snowmen at all, and certainly saw no benefit for creating them by the bridge and river Penelope chose. Either way, though, he joined Penelope and watched her roll around a ball of snow that started to gain mass with every roll, "Come on, do something fun for a change and start making your snowman," Penelope encouraged, before rolling her first ball to its first position in the snow – right by the street for travelers to see. After she was satisfied on where the first ball of snow was, she started on her second ball of snow, but stopped to see if Haytham was starting on his snowman; he was, and she was able to see he was uncomfortable with the manner, but she just smiled and continued on her own.

Haytham never took the time to make **snowmen**, especially in this time of life where he had more _important _things to attend too, but still upheld his side of the bargain and did so anyway. The two took a good twenty minutes to finish their snowmen, and Penelope ended up putting smiles on both of them, and stick arms since Haytham didn't cooperate that far. "Why are you going so far as to dress these men of snow?" he asked, "Well, it's fun, and they deserve to have buttons and smiles, right? They need eyes and arms, too," Penelope responded as she stuck in rocks for buttons on each snowman.

Eventually, Penelope stood back and stood by Haytham, and smiled at the snowmen, seeing how they were classically made and how they looked like best friends – she never made snowmen with people other than her father. When she was with Ratohnhake:ton and the others, they made snow forts and had their series of snow wars, nothing simple like making snowmen, so this experience really made her day. Haytham was waiting to leave, but before they were to go back to Concord, Penelope took Haytham's hat again and put it onto his snowman, and smiled back at the male afterwards, "Look, he can be a snow version of you!" she exclaimed, then put her hand by the snowman's mouth, opening and closing her hand to make it look like the snowman was talking, "I'm Haytham Kenway, and I looovvvveee the snowmen, they're so cute! Hurhurhurhur!" she exclaimed, only to get a light hit on the head from Haytham as a response.

"Let us depart, Penelope," he sighed, taking his hat away from the snowman and putting it back onto his head before strolling down the street again in the direction they came. Penelope didn't say anything, waved at the two creations, and followed after with a slight jog to catch up to Haytham's side. "Okay, come on, you gotta admit, today wasn't _thaaat_ bad, was it?" Penelope asked, seeing the sun was departing; they were to have supper and then call in for the night. She enjoyed today, Penelope really did, and she also thought it wasn't that bad for Haytham – it could've been worse.

"I admit, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the time of my life, either."

* * *

**So it seems they're somewhat getting along – One day left, but an actual challenge: Penelope's manners. Prooobably won't go down too well; predictions? Haha.  
**

**See you in chapter nine (:**


	9. Chapter Nine: Everything Changes

**Author's note: You all make me so happy, loves! I'm so glad you all are loving this story, and that everything is worth it xD. Anywho, aside from all the love to you all, here is chapter nine! Day three of Penelope's lessons, and this time it is to be more… challenging, considering the facts she never keeps track of her manners… Now! Let us read on, and see what adventures the two will have this time! (:**

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which alters everything else. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Day Three, Everything Changes

_"Okay, come on, you gotta admit, today wasn't __thaaat__ bad, was it?" Penelope asked, seeing the sun was departing; they were to have supper and then call in for the night. She enjoyed today, Penelope really did, and she also thought it wasn't that bad for Haytham – it could've been worse._

_"I admit, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the time of my life, either."_

Penelope's POV:

Today was probably going to be the worst day of my life. So far, I don't doubt that, and I wanted to hit Haytham _so _badly! Why? Today was the day where I _actually __**had**_ to be polite, respectful, and cautious of my words – even if it's my **opinion**. If it's 'rude', I can't say it! What the hell? It's so frustrating already! It was barely midday, the third day of our time spent together, and we were sitting at the dining table with lunch served, boy was I hungry! Nope. Can't eat yet, first I need to have _manners_ – dammit all.

"Now napkin on your lap, Penelope," Haytham instructed, staring at me as he waited for me to do as he said; my expression showed my frustration, but I did as told; I unfolded the napkin I had and put it on my lap, sighing as my shoulders came forward, "Straight posture, no slouching." "Yes _sir_," I spat back, sitting straight and keeping my posture perfect, but the only reaction I saw from Haytham was a slightly irritated expression on his face, "What?" I questioned, "Watch the way you say things, too; that's your major issue and it needs to be settled and worked on."

This is too many rules for me.

* * *

No one's POV: 

The meal was… slowly progressing. About every thirty seconds Haytham would have to correct Penelope on some mistake of hers, and it was making him loose his patience; he didn't expect her to be this uncooperative! "Elbows off the table, Penelope," he said in a strict tone, watching her elbows slide off the tabletop as she continued to eat. Eventually, silence went between the two and Penelope pointed to the tea pot that was more on Haytham's side than on hers, "Hey can you get me that tea? I need some more Mack," she asked, looking at the tea and waiting for it to be given to her. Though, once she noticed Haytham wasn't responding to her request, she looked up at him and saw how unimpressed he was, "How about you attempt your request again?" "Uhm…" Penelope started, putting her hand down since it was still pointing to the tea pot – she put her hand in her lap and fixed her posture again, "Mister… Kenway," she paused. It was difficult for her to be so polite, "May I please have the tea, my cup is rather empty and I am…" she paused again, trying to search for a word, "requesting that you be a gentleman and aid me?" she finished, looking at Haytham with a nervous smile.

Haytham reached for the tea pot and handed it to her, watching her movements as she snatched it away; Penelope was about to let her childish side out, but once she saw Haytham's expression, she went back to trying to contain her attitude_. God she really is something_, he thought, then cleared his throat, still waiting for Penelope to thank him; Penelope noticed he was waiting, and it took her a moment to catch on, "Oh! Thank you," she said while pouring more tea into her cup before setting the pot down. _This is harder than I thought it would be…_ Penelope thought as she continued practicing the correct way to eat her food; they were eating deer and corn that day.

"Oh, by the way," Haytham started, seeing Penelope still eating but obviously listening; he wouldn't start though until she looked up. She didn't for a while, but once she noticed the giant pause, she looked up and waited for him to continue; Haytham only gave a slightly scolding look before it calmed and he continued on, "We will be visiting comrades of mine. You will be meeting Charles Lee, Thomas Hickey, Benjamin Church, William Johnson, and John Pitcairn – I expect you to be on your proper behavior. This will serve as a chance to prove you have learned some manners, but if you fail, I suppose we'll try something else. I have no doubt you'll do your very best," He explained, seeing Penelope's facial expression drop.

Haytham's expression showed mild curiosity as he cocked up an eyebrow, "Something erroneous about it?" "N- No, not at all. Just… surprising that you'd allow me to meet such people," Penelope responded, smiling a bit before she went back to eating. Once the two finished, Penelope went to cleaning up for the both of them since she knew she probably wouldn't come back here tonight – it was the end of the three days Haytham dedicated too, so she figured they'd go their separate ways at the end of the time.

"Do I need to dress any certain way?" she asked, not wanting to screw this all up, "No, just be sure to behave and not be barbaric. You'll do fine with effort, I assure you," Haytham responded before Penelope heard him leave the house – he obviously didn't want to be around doing nothing while she cleaned the dishes. "Well…" she sighed aloud, looking over at the clean plates as if they were listening to her, "This is _still _going to be the worst day of my life, I'm sure of it."

* * *

The day was actually very nice like the day before with a slight breeze, making it slightly cooler, but the sun was still out and the blue sky was stretching all directions with barely any white cloud in its way. Despite the great weather, Penelope was dreading the walk down the street her and Haytham were having; the two were heading to the Wright Tavern, and Haytham's patience was running out yet again. He stopped in his tracks and shifted his body around to watch Penelope drag her legs forward like an undead.

She was going so slow and her expression made it seem like she was the most miserable person in all of existence, "Oh come on, Penelope, it's parky and we haven't all day – stop moping and get a move on," Haytham insisted, only to get a lazy groan from Penelope in return as she trudged forward, "So far you're not on the right side of the card," he added, referring to her challenge of being polite. That seemed to work since Penelope's posture stiffened and she sped up, almost walking faster than Haytham himself; she didn't want to risk dealing with more manners and stuff, so she was determined to do well this time.

The two made their way through the dirt roads of Concord, through the markets, and finally approached the Wright Tavern, which for some reason – made Penelope nervous. She never truly met anyone other than Haytham in their group, she only followed and ran from them all at least once; well, she hadn't met Benjamin Church or William Johnson. Pitcairn, she actually forgot he was mentioned, but didn't really think hard on it. Penelope only had one goal for the day: behaving and being polite to these people; her thoughts, however, caused her to stop in her tracks before going into the Tavern.

"Something stopping you now? Second thoughts, perhaps, Miss Penelope?" Haytham asked as he looked over his shoulder at her, about to open the door to the Tavern. Penelope looked up at him and just shook her head, "Brilliant. You will have three silent warnings during this get-together, I'm sure that will be sufficient for you. Now, let us," Haytham explained before opening the door, waiting for Penelope to go into the tavern first. Penelope looked up Haytham again, and then walked into the tavern to see men at a big table laughing and talking to one another.

"'Aytham! Wot took ya so long?" a man asked, coming up to Haytham and patting his shoulder multiple times; Penelope could tell he was the barmy of the group just by looking at him, "Good day to you as well, Hickey," Haytham responded before he made his way to the table where everyone else was at. Penelope watched them all, and sighed, telling herself words of encouragement – she was going to be polite to these people, and try to be nice_… Try_. As she shuffled to the table where the men were, Thomas Hickey went to her and put an arm around her, leaning his head close to hers, "'Ey, pretteh lady, wot's got ya comin' here fo?" he asked, causing Penelope to lean to the side to create space between them, "Uhm… Well, I was going to resist coming here and I'd tell you to fuck off but-" she couldn't finish, Haytham had stepped on her foot… hard, which made her bite her lip harshly and hiss from pain: first warning.

Thomas stared at her as she tried to compose herself, and her act got everyone else's attention, something she didn't want; Charles was the first to bring her into the conversation, "It's you again," he said, getting up and going over to Penelope with his hand stretched out, "Charles Lee, pleasure to meet you," he said, causing Penelope to stare at him; she almost forgot how to react, but just smiled in a cheesy fashion as she took his hand and shook it, "Pleasure's all mine. Penelope," she responded, letting go of his hand as soon as she got the chance.

"Beautiful name, dear," Charles remarked, trying to make a friendly official impression before Thomas pushed his way through again, "I'm Thomas Hickey," he said, then pointed to William Johnson, "'E's William Johnson," he paused, pointing to Benjamin Church, then to John Pitcairn, "Church, and John Pitcairn." "His name is Church?" Penelope asked, pointing to Benjamin as she looked at Thomas, "Noooo, that's Benjamin Church, Pen!" Thomas retorted, not noticing he just said Benjamin's last name, not his first with it. Penelope just nodded, trying to compose herself as everyone took a seat again.

* * *

Penelope sat beside Haytham and listened to everyone for a good hour, but eventually she was dragged into the event; Thomas gave her a beer and urged her to pick it up and drink with him, "Bottom's up, Pen!" he encouraged with slurred speech, which made Penelope uneasy; she had never drank before, but thought it wouldn't hurt. She gazed over at Haytham and noticed he was speaking to Charles, so she decided to be a sport, smile at Thomas, and then drink the bitter he had offered her.

It wasn't the best taste in the world at first, but after a good chug of the bitter, Penelope got used to it. By the end of the drink, Penelope was slurring her words to Thomas – giggling as he gave her another glass, completely drunk, "'Ey! Wait, wait," Penelope slurred, leaning over onto Thomas as the two smiled; the two were piss-artists at the moment, "Sing a song! That'd be…. Great," Penelope finished, giggling as she took another swig at her drink.

Eventually, the two drunks got up in front of everyone and started singing, keeping one another up and trying not to laugh. Once Haytham realized Thomas had gotten Penelope drunk with him, he felt she wouldn't be able to last the whole visit – he should've kept a closer eye on her, and even Charles had thought the same thing.

_"Fuck you I'm drunk, fuck you I'm drunk! Pour my beer down the drain, I've got more in the tru…" _The two tried to sing, but before they could even finish their performance, the two started laughing and wobbling about, spilling their drinks and bumping into the table. Thomas sat down in the nearest chair, but Penelope ended up stumbling over to Haytham, putting her arm around him which made him tense under her rat-arsed touch, "Haayytthooomm, come! Drink, saaavvvvyyy!" she slurred, giggling, trying to say more. Her next pair of words, however, didn't come out as anything understandable.

"Penelope, sit down, you're trolleyed and can't handle yourself!" he exclaimed, trying to get her arm away from him, but she wouldn't budge; she just leaned in closer and giggled, slurring more phrases to him but no one could understand. Thomas's singing was heard through the whole tavern, and eventually Penelope was going to make her way over to him. It didn't happen, though. Her whole festivity of being drunk went downhill once she barely took a few steps away from Haytham.

The next scene didn't go to well; it made everyone silence – Penelope _razzed_ all over Charles Lee, a man who was trying to enjoy his time at the Wright Tavern with small conversation. His expression was unreadable – emotions rimmed his eyes, and his gaze slowly shifted down to his shirt and pants; vomit was all over him and everyone else was quiet. Speechless. That was until Thomas looked at Charles and pointed to his own clean shirt, "Ya got somethin' on ya'." Was all he said before Penelope's drunk perception got the whole scene blown out of proportion.

"I'm so sorry!" Penelope slurred, panicking even more, "I didn't mean too, please, forgive me! I'm so so so sorry!" she continued, but then she burst into tears as Charles slowly started to get up to go clean himself up and take his leave. Penelope was crying and making everything overly dramatic, apologizing to everyone while Thomas was laughing and making unnecessary commentary. Haytham was done. He couldn't take any of this – the drinking, the drunk laughing, the out of proportion drunk Penelope, and the smell of vomit that filled the room slowly but surely. "Penelope, let's go tidy you up."

"B- but I have to apologize! Now he hates me, what am I going to do!?" Penelope slurred, hiccupping afterwards, which made Haytham sigh heavily; she was going to be trouble to take out of the tavern that was for sure. Penelope was resisting to leave the tavern, so Haytham eventually just picked her up by the arms and carried her out like a prisoner getting arrested; her yelling didn't help, but once they got outside and to the back of the tavern, Penelope calmed down and just started vomiting again, "Jeez, Hickey had you drinking more than I thought," Haytham breathed before watching Penelope wander away from him; she was done letting herself go, and she was now trying to find her way home.

Haytham, to be honest, was mildly amused at how easily Penelope was able to get drunk, but it also bothered him that he had to take care of her for the rest of the night, it really did. Once they got back to the home they dwelled in for the time being, Haytham cleaned her face up with a rag, had her relax and lay down, and overall: he took care of her. She ended up falling asleep like a hibernating bear, and Haytham was thankful she fell asleep at a decent time and not somewhere around midnight – he was actually going to get a good amount of sleep without the worry of her doing something stupid.

He gave a final check on Penelope, then went to do his own business; the house was silent, and the candles flickered, keeping the area lit. That day surely was interesting.

* * *

The next morning came; it was early, and dawn was about to welcome its way into the moment. Penelope was just waking up, and her head felt like it was getting beaten without end, "Damn…" she muttered, sitting up in her bed while holding her forehead, "What happened yesterday?" she asked herself; she was barely able to remember much. Penelope shifted in her bed to touch her feet to the wooden floorboards, then she headed out of the room, down the hall, and down the stairs – she wondered what Haytham was doing.

"Good morning," Haytham greeted her, drinking his tea at the dining table, "You look lovely." He was being sarcastic, and once Penelope heard him, she felt her hair; it was sticking up all over the place and she knew it was messy, so her response to him was just a smile. The woman made her way to her chair, sat down, and stared at Haytham with an unimpressed expression as she felt her hair for the feather tie Ratonhnhaké:ton had given to her, "So, I'm assuming I didn't do too hot yesterday?" "Not even close. Thomas got you beyond **drunk**, you razzed _all over_ Lee, and you ended up crashing once you hit your bed," Haytham briefly explained, not showing any emotion in his words.

Penelope groaned, let her head drop to the table once she had her hair tie in her hand, and she just stayed like that for a while. It was quiet for a good minute before she sat back up again with a dropped expression, and that's when she raised an eyebrow, "My head is killing me, I'd enjoy sleep, but what's the agenda for today?" she asked, watching Haytham as he got up and went to put his cup away, "There is none. I said three days, and they have passed – no longer. You did well, and even though yesterday didn't go as planned, I know you've learned something on how to be polite. Am I wrong?"

"No, no. You're right, I did learn stuff. A lot, actually – more than I expected, and I'm happy about it," Penelope explained, then thought to herself. Three days were over, and after this enjoyable experience (at least on her side), she felt she should actually just… head home, actually. Penelope felt it'd be the right thing to do after she and Haytham were to go their separate ways. The female rose from her chair and decided she'd make that happen now – she didn't want to pull him away from his work, whatever it was, for too long and she had a gut feeling she should keep it at three days and no longer.

Penelope had gotten fully ready with her hair done and tied, her shoes on and tight, and her appearance nice and spiffy; she was ready to go home to her father. Once she was ready, Haytham decided to close shop as well, and the two left the house, locked the door, and made their way to the main road; they had to go their separate directions, and Penelope smiled up at Haytham, "I'll be seeing you again soon, when we attack Braddock," she said, "Yes, our paths will cross again at that time. Good luck on your journey to your destination, Penelope." "And good luck to you as well, Mister Kenway," Penelope smirked before she received another idea.

She approached Haytham a bit more and went to her tip-toes, reaching up to his hat; she snatched it from him and put it onto her head, smiling at him, "I'm going to wear this until we meet again, just to make sure we actually do and you're not fooling me," she joked, and before Haytham could have any say in it, Penelope ran off towards the Davenport Homestead with Haytham Kenway's tri-fold hat. Haytham didn't take any effort to run after her, and just sneered, watching her flee as he sensed Charles approach him from behind with a smug smile, "Sir, did she just…" "Yes, Charles, she did. No matter, let us attend to more… important notions. Let us be off," Haytham snapped, and the two headed into Concord.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Penelope's POV: 

The main reason why I took Haytham's hat was because I knew it'd piss him off, but it was also a reassuring thing that I would get to talk to him again, maybe even before we were to work together to stop Braddock and his goons. I know it's… childish and all but guess what? I got _dreams_ mate, and I'm different then everyone out there – I'm Penelope Davenport, baddest of them all. Habit of mine: Talking to myself like I'm the best and better than everyone.

Especially when I was by myself in the middle of nowhere. By now, I was _probably_ half-way home and taking my sweet time – I didn't want to rush or anything, it was before midday and I had the whole day to get home. Though, the time between **now** and getting **home**, in a way, was horrible. "Great, how am I going to explain why I was gone for so long!?" I yelled aloud, grasping my hair out of frustration as I strode along the road, following the cart tracks that were in the snow. They would lead me to somewhere recognizable, so I didn't worry particularly where I was headed.

Eventually, I caught up to some soldiers who were walking along the road in the same direction I was, and as I passed, I waved at them, only to get a negative response – they started to come at me with their muskets raised, "Get back here!" one yelled, and I took that as a signal to _run_. I did run, and I made myself climb the trees until I lost track of them; I figured they'd stop chasing me after a while, anyway, so they themselves wouldn't get lost. I jumped down from the tree I was on, tumbled down with a grip on Haytham's hat, and gained my composure and went on my jolly way again. Haytham's hat was a bit big on me, so I always had to angle it upwards so I was able to see; I felt pretty superior in this kind of hat, to be honest.

I could fancy one myself; be a badass in the city of Boston, better than everyone and on top – man, that'd be a different experience. Hah, that's a joke; I'd never want to do something like that. I fancy myself doing something more interesting, something maybe Achilles did when he was younger. I never asked because when I went towards that subject to ask, he'd stray away and avoid the whole topic; maybe one day I'll actually ask. It wasn't a big deal, but the interest of knowing my father's childhood did intrigue me; though, those thoughts went back to what I was going to face when I came home… how he was going to react for me being absent for such a long period of time. Great, I had to deal with the old man probably yelling – I felt it. Guess I had to accept it, and I would. Maybe I would try pulling a Haytham – being polite and saying "Oh a thousand pardons." Or something like that.

In due time I found myself along the main side of the road, again, and actually came to the bridge – finally. It took long enough, and I was starting to get hungry. The bridge gave me hopes, though, since I knew that meant I had a good fifteen minutes left or so if I took my time walking home. I didn't, however, and jogged the rest of the way – the sight of the steps leading up to the manor, and the trees around the old place was emotional when I got to the first stair; I think I was too long gone from home.

Slowly, I made my way up the stairs and took in all the details around me, letting the manor's presence envelope me with its company. It was a nice walk up the stairs, and once I reached the door, I knocked twice, fixed Haytham's hat that was on my head, and opened the door as quietly as possible,

"I'm home, Daddy."

* * *

**It seems Penelope went home finally! How will Achilles welcome her home? Any thoughts? Poor Haytham, getting his hat taken away, but more feels to Lee – Penelope threw up all over him! Drunken day that was xD. Haha.  
**

**See you in chapter ten loves!**


	10. Chapter Ten: Welcome Home

**Author's note: Ugh, school – it's too time consuming and boring! Been busy with homework, essays, tests, etc… but I shall continue to post chapters! Not daily, though, as you can see; every few days or so, whenever I can (: Sorry for those who are excited for chapters. Well, Penelope, where we last left her, came home wearing Haytham's hat! Let's read on and see how that goes, yes? **

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which alters everything else. Yes, including the plot, dearies. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Ten: Welcome Home

_Slowly, I made my way up the stairs and took in all the details around me, letting the manor's presence envelope me with its company. It was a nice walk up the stairs, and once I reached the door, I knocked twice, fixed Haytham's hat that was on my head, and opened the door as quietly as possible,_

_"I'm home, Daddy."_

Penelope's POV: 

It took awhile to find my father through all the silence in the house, but once I did, I found him writing at his desk without a single glance up; I knew he had realized my return. Should I speak up? I didn't know what to do, actually - I felt... bad for leaving, now that I thought of it. First, I didn't listen to his declare about Boston, then I ended up actually being absent for many long months. How could I possibly not get down about it?

Taking a sharp breath in, then slowly exhaling, I knocked twice on the side of the entrance into the room my father was accompanying. He looked up - _ugh_, that made me even more sunken now that I saw his emotion he had beyond his expression, "Welcome back, and how's Boston?" Achilles asked, looking back at his papers. I didn't respond for a moment; what would I say? Hey, at least it wasn't as I expected… he wasn't yelling or being angry, but then again, why was I thinking that? My dad wasn't one to really burst out much.

Well, here goes nothing. _Start out small, Penelope_. Slowly but surely, I came into the room and approached the man writing, then sighed, looking down upon my shoes; there was no way I could speak while looking at him, "I.. I owe you an apology. It was wrong of me to disobey your warning and leave; I was reckless, and just... felt like I knew it all and knew there was no danger. I was wrong; I came face to face with danger itself."

I paused, looking up at him. So much for starting out small_._ "What made it worse is that I left you here for months without word of my safety. Let me make it up to-" I couldn't finish, I saw him raise a hand before he sat back in his chair and stared in return with a rather... calm expression, it caught me off guard, really, especially when I had thought he was going to be angry at me. "Penelope, you are of age where I cannot tell you what to do. I said no for you to go to Boston because I was worried you would get **hurt** and cause _trouble _- it was simply because of the risk of danger there, not because I am your father and said no for any such reason. Your absence was lonesome, but I suppose I need to learn the ideal that you are growing older by the day."

"Sometimes I still see you as my troublesome ten year old, but it's obviously like that no longer..." he paused, getting up and approaching me – the next thing I felt was the warmth of my dad's arms around me. It's been so long I've been away that I even forgot how it felt to be hugged by the man. As I wrapped my arms around him in return, I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment, taking in the feeling of being in the safety of the manor. It was glad to be home for a change of pace, "I love you, Dad. I'm so sorry." "Do not worry about it, you are home safe and sound." I sensed a pause, he wasn't done speaking, and I confirmed it as he let go of me and stared at Haytham's hat that was resting itself on my head.

"But you have come with a new friend. Tell me, where did you get that hat?" he asked. Was it just me, or did I see a sense of concern in his eyes? I didn't answer, but it seemed that was the wrong action to take, "I asked, where did you get that hat, _**Penelope**_?" he repeated – now in a stern tone of voice, wanting an answer from me at that instant, "Well, uhm… Long story, I suppose, but I got it from a new friend of mine… Well, I sort of took it from him by his will, but still – I consider him a friend." "Who, Penelope?" Something was wrong, but I couldn't put a finger on it.

Did he know Haytham?

* * *

No one's POV:

Achilles swore he knew that hat – he couldn't see it as anyone else's. It was Kenway's, and kept thinking that the more he looked at it. But how did Penelope get it? "But you have come with a new friend. Tell me, where did you get that hat?" Achilles asked, trying to mask his concern. He was worried of something like this to happen – Penelope getting involved in this… this war, but he never expected it to actually happen. It was too late, now, though. Achilles was impatient as he saw Penelope give a silent answer, so his strict appearance showed itself in the light, "I asked, where did you get that hat, **Penelope**?" Achilles asked again, practically demanding an answer now that his emotion got the better side.

"Well, uhm… Long story, I suppose, but I got it from a new friend of mine… Well, I sort of took it from him by his will, but still – I consider him a friend." "Who, Penelope?" Achilles wasn't giving up on getting an answer from Penelope, no matter how long they had to stay here; he knew if he didn't get an answer now, he wasn't going to get any sleep this upcoming night.

Penelope stared at Achilles, seeming to think to herself and ponder on a decision, but eventually she smiled and tried to relax, "Haytham Kenway. He's a new friend of mine – taught me how to brush up on my fighting abilities and stuff. Oh, he also tried teaching me how to be polite, but I'm still trying to get a hang of that," she finally said, trying to keep a lighter tone as she gave her answer. Achilles didn't respond – all he did was nod and turn to go back to his writing, he needed to think. Needed to think of a way to keep Penelope away from the war, and from the Templars – especially the Grand Master.

Penelope watched as Achilles drifted away from her and back to his desk, but she still wondered if he knew who Haytham was, or what he even thought of it all. She was going to ask, but she got a feeling as if it were a bad idea, _Mind-as-well just keep this at a close_. _Maybe he knows Haytham or something? Hell, how the fuck would I know. _Penelope watched him for a moment then quietly drifted down the hall to her room. It was then that she got the feeling of fatigue, and knew she needed some rest. Once in her room, Penelope slumped onto her bed as she set Haytham's hat beside her, and just let sleep envelope her; a nap couldn't hurt, right? Especially since she had been exhausted emotionally for who knows how long – the soft, comforting mattress soothed her, and in a short amount of time the darkness took Penelope to the realm of dreams and endless imagination.

* * *

Penelope ended up sleeping till dinner, where the two Davenports ate their meal – corn, potatoes, and bread. It was simple, since it was a last minute meal situation. The meal was quiet due to the both of them thinking about their worries. Penelope was deciding that she would take care of the manor and help around the area for the next few months – besides, she had the time since she knew she wouldn't be going to Haytham again to track Braddock for a while. For some reason, she felt like she should do it as a form of making up for her actions. Achilles, on the other hand, was worried and contemplating on the recent events of Penelope meeting the Templars, especially Mister Kenway.

It was something he feared would happen, but it seemed to be unavoidable at this point in life. His thoughts, however, were cut off by Penelope's sudden cough which had made him lift his gaze up from his food and at his daughter, "I'm going to be taking care of this manor for a while to… well… get it into shape, since it needs upgrading. I also thought it'd be nice to stay home and relax for awhile." _And to get rid of this guilt that I can't get be rid of,_ Penelope just saw Achilles smile in return, not responding until a good minute or so later, "I think that would be good for you – hard work around the house you always refused to do as a child, right?" he teased, causing Penelope to smile a bit as they returned to their meal in silence.

The silence became peaceful this time, and it remained to the end of the meal; the two Davenports cleaned up and ended up having small talk in the kitchen, keeping the atmosphere light. Once the two went to do their own things, Penelope had decided to get ready for bed for the night and get extra sleep for a nice work day that was coming up. She washed up, got into her nightgown, and snuggled into bed.

Though, before she had fallen asleep for the night, Mister Haytham Kenway was on her mind again.

* * *

_Late Winter, 1754_

Time had passed and Penelope had been more relaxed than she once was when she first came home – she was able to do a lot of work for the time that rolled on by, especially when it had to do with work around the manor. She decorated some of the walls with paintings and even made blankets for Achilles and herself since she learned back in Mohawk Valley with the other Native women; Penelope almost forgot about all her worries about Braddack for a while, even_. Almost._ Achilles let her do as she wished, and had no problem with the work she was doing, but found it odd at times when she tried her very best to try and be completely polite for as long as she could. He was impressed on how much she wanted to improve, but never mentioned it head on.

That morning was a smoky morning. The snow had long been gone, and the signs of the end of winter were starting to show – Penelope knew she would have to leave soon. Once she woke up, she smelt the scent of the fresh smoke and knew for sure that there was smog outside; the female guessed it, and saw it out her window once she got up. The smoke was so thick, she was barely able to see forms farther away – one of the trails leading towards Boston and the Frontier was hard to see, even. Penelope wondered where the fire must've come from, but thought it wasn't much of a deal since it wasn't anything nearby, obviously. After taking that moment to look at the outside environment, Penelope sauntered over to her closet and got dressed in her normal attire – she figured she would stay inside until the smog subsided. _I hope there's a rain sometime soon._

The day had gone by normally, but Penelope was disappointed to see that the smoggy outside didn't go away any time soon.

* * *

It was over a week that passed by now, and the smoke was lingering about like a new neighbor that decided to just stay and never leave. It was bothering Penelope the whole time, but she coped with it – a thing she learned with Haytham when they spent their time together was patience, and so far it only brought success so that was her tactic for the time being. At that point in time, it was midday and Penelope was taking a nap – she was tired and bored that day, and had nothing better to do. She was laying in bed with Haytham's hat covering her face and seemed to not stir at all even with the… yelling going on down the stairs and at the back door.

An event was happening that day, and it was actually something that bothered Achilles for the past day and a half. Achilles had a man come to his door asking for training, looking desperate, really; Penelope questioned who was at the door about two times, but Achilles insisted it wasn't a problem. It was. "I apologize if I've been unclear - or otherwise confused you with my words, it was never my intention to mislead. So let me try to clarify: GET THE _HELL_ OFF MY LAND!" Achilles hollered from the window he was looking through, slightly glaring at the man in Native clothing.

"I'm coming up!" Achilles strolled to the side porch door, and heard the male trying to open the door, obviously desperate to speak his words, "Just hear me out!? What are you so afraid of?"This ticked off Achilles more than anything had in the past... he didn't even know. The man was reckless and naive, that was for sure, Achilles could see that just by looking at the boy and hearing his words.

It angered him, in a way, but all he did was open the door with a great force and confronted the visitor; he noticed he deemed the same age as Penelope, maybe a bit older, "Afraid? You think I'm afraid of ANYTHING, least of all a self-important little scab like _you!?_" Achilles stepped out onto the porch, knocked the man onto his back with the use of his cane, and narrowed his eyes as he poked at him, stepping over him so he could get a good look at the Native.

"Oh, you might dream of being a _hero_. Of riding to rescues, of saving the world - but stay this course, and the only thing you're gonna' be is DEAD," he explained, poking him again before he headed back into the manor. Though, he paused, looking over his shoulder at the 'hero', "The world's moved on, boy. Best you do too." "I will not leave! _Do you hear me_!? I am **NEVER** leaving!"

Achilles took it as a joke. Sure, he had the potential of being a good man to learn the ways of the Brotherhood, but deemed more troublesome than Penelope. How did he even find this manor? As Achilles took his time going down the steps to get a small meal, Penelope came out and stopped at the start of the staircase, "Dad, is everything alright?" she asked in a groggy tone, still waking up – the last bit of yelling barely woke her up, but before she could even try to go back to bed, her body seemed to thrive for movement of some sort. "Everything is alright, Penelope. Nothing to worry." Penelope watched Achilles disappear beyond the corner, and just yawned, stumbling down the steps to follow suit.

Her stomach agreed to her decision, anyhow – she was practically starving due to not eating all day, living off only the midnight snack she had. Achilles watched her make her own food, and couldn't help but become uncomfortable with the hat she was wearing; too think that an innocent girl was wearing a Templar hat and held pride in holding such friendship. It worried him. "Where is the damn stew from the other day?" Penelope asked, searching the kitchen as if her life depending on it, "I'm _huuunngryy_," she stretched, looking over in Achilles's direction with an exaggerated pouting look. Achilles wasn't paying attention to Penelope anymore and just ate his small portion of food he gathered for himself; he thought Penelope was speaking to herself this whole time, to be honest.

The female got that message, too, and just sighed as her empty stomach growled fiercely, demanding food and drink. After more constant rummaging and snooping around the kitchen, she finally found what she was looking for and ended up warming it up at the kitchen fire that was going for the day. Her stomach was soon satisfied, and Penelope felt more awake than before hand – she was ready to go until supper. The day seemed to go by normally, but towards the setting of the sun and the end of the day, Penelope seemed to notice a figure down at the stalls where the horses were. It seemed as if the figure was going to go inside the stalls to stay there – she noticed when she was passing by the windows that faced that area.

It got her curiosity up, so Penelope headed down stairs and found Achilles by the fire place reading quietly. She quietly approached the man, and cleared her throat once in his presence, "Uhm… is it just me, or is someone making camp around the place?" Penelope asked, seeing Achilles sigh – it was clear the man knew of the situation, "There is a fellow wanting to train here and explain himself; a native, and very arrogant." Was all Achilles said, but that was enough to get Penelope to press onto the matter, "How long as he been there? What did he look like?"

Achilles got up from his chair and stared at his daughter putting an arm onto her shoulder, "He's been here for two or so days… most likely a Mohawk man. He seemed desperate to speak his words, but that matter has been settled—" "Wait, Mohawk?" Penelope interrupted before Achilles could finish his words or walk away; her hopes were going high that it was Ratohnhake:ton, but why would he be here and want such a thing? She knew he was reckless and a fighter, but she couldn't think of any reason why he would want serious training… The girl was going to take her chances and try to get her father to talk to him.

* * *

It was raining that night, and Penelope was thankful for it; a storm was what the Frontier really needed. After all that smoky weather, the rains had finally come and poured over the land to clear of all the smog. Though, the moments of that night weren't pleasurable either way. Ever since Penelope got that feeling that Ratohnhake:ton would be here, she kept pressing the matter onto Achilles – telling him that he should really talk to the man and hear what he had to say. She thought it would be good to have a guest over, and to have Achilles actually meet Ratohnhake:ton, if it were him.

Achilles, though, was being harsh and kept denying her pleas; Penelope even yelled a bit from how frustrated she got with the matter. It took a long amount of time for Penelope to miraculously get Achilles to accept her idea, and he had left the house to fetch the man. While he was out of the house, Penelope put Haytham's hat away safely in her room – it seemed like she never took the damn thing off her head at all. Achilles on the other hand, was busy getting soaked in the rain only to find bloody bodies scattered about and a live stranger about to kill the familiar Native.

"You workin' for the old man, then? That it? Maybe this'll get ya talkin'." Achilles snuck up behind him, killing him in a stealthy move. The dead man fell to his death, and once the conflict calmed, Achilles started to leave back towards the manor, "Thank you." "Clean this up. Then, I suppose we should talk..." Achilles didn't want to stay in the rain for very long - he was already uneasy about letting this innocent human get involved into something that would change his life forever.

Once back in the manor, Penelope took care of her father and dried him up with a couple of towels as best she could, then let a slight smile appear upon her lips, "Is he coming, too?" "Yes, he should be here any time, now." The guest did; he entered the manor and walked into the room Penelope and Achilles were in, by the fire place. Penelope's gaze shifted towards the door, and a smile beamed onto her face as if she had no worries in the world; she was glad her assumptions were correct, and was beyond fortunate to see her closest friend once again. Penelope practically ran over to the soaked Native and flung herself at him in an exaggerated motion, hugging him tightly without letting go in the slightest,

"_Ratohnhake:ton_!"

* * *

**So Penelope spent time at home, Connor finally comes, and we start digging deeper. Ugh, the end of the year – Too many things to do ! I will try to update faster, dearies.**

**I appreciate the love from you all – they encourage me more than anything when writing!**

**Thank you all!  
**

**See you, loves, in chapter eleven. c:**


	11. Chapter Eleven: A Heated Discussion

**Author's note: Thank you all who are reading – I hope to improve at my writing abilities this 2013 year, as well as expand on more fanfictions for you all. Your feedback is certainly encouraging me, dearies! Anyway, I've been thinking to do a **_**Saints Row**_** fanfic of some sort… so there's an idea for the future… Now, let us read on! Penelope and Connor are reunited, and… well, let's just read.**

_**Reminder**_**: This is an AU. The relations are altered, which alters everything else. Yes, including the plot, dearies. If you need a reminder on the relations, go back to chapter one where it's explained. Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: A Heated Discussion

_Penelope's gaze shifted towards the door, and a smile beamed onto her face as if she had no worries in the world; she was glad her assumptions were correct, and was beyond fortunate to see her closest friend once again. Penelope practically ran over to the soaked Native and flung herself at him in an exaggerated motion, hugging him tightly without letting go in the slightest,_

_"__Ratohnhake:ton__!"_

No one's POV: 

Penelope felt Ratohnhake:ton's comforting arms wrap around her, pulling her tighter into the embrace they shared near the entrance of the room they were accompanying. By the actions the two were displaying, Achilles knew the boy was the friend Penelope always spoke about in her years of youth and adulthood, but he also confirmed his suspicions of his daughter getting slowly more involved in the life he didn't want her to know of. This boy wanted to know the ways of the Brotherhood, and Penelope was already aware of the names and faces of a few, if not all the Templars, it was only the day of where she truly asks about it that was on its way to come. The fear of who was going to explain the whole Truth to her was the problem, though, since she was _friends_ with the Grand Master himself.

"Penelope, I'm so glad you are safe," Ratohnhake:ton said with a tone of relief that held a slightly different emotion of some sort which made Penelope pull back a bit to stare up at the taller male with a slightly confound expression, "Safe? Why wouldn't I be safe?" "It's a long tale—" He wasn't able to finish, for Achilles had cut him off, "I would advise you not waste time now, and talk later. Penelope, you have things to do, I assume? I and the boy have important matters to settle before you and he get up to date with your… more recent events."

Achilles's words seemed like a suggestion to normal people, but Penelope knew it as another meaning – it meant she had to go do her own thing since he didn't want her to bother the both of them for whatever manner. She was going to protest and insist to stay by her friend's side, but she knew it wouldn't bring anything good out from her father – she had to practice her manners and behavior, anyway, and this was one of those small tests to see if she really could do it.

"That sounds like a great idea, Daddy," Penelope said in a sweet tone, trying her best to smile at her father as she pulled away from Ratohnhake:ton and headed towards the hallway, "I'll be upstairs, cleaning, if any of you need anything." She left to the hallway and up the stairs to do her own thing, actually leaving both Achilles and Ratohnhake:ton dumbfounded – they didn't expect that, to be honest. They anticipated the female to make an outburst of some sort to stay and listen to the words of exchange that was about to take place, "Did you heed the same words from her as I?" Ratohnhake:ton asked quietly, causing Achilles to chuckle as he offered a chair for the Native male.

Ratohnhake:ton took a seat on the chair, but ended up collapsing to the ground with the chair pieces rolling across the wooden floor, an action which made his face warm up with embarrassment, "Sorry," he said one he was up on his feet, staring at Achilles who was sitting in his own chair with an unfazed expression. The darker male waved it off, and watched the new individual that would accompany the manor, "Not your fault. This whole place is ready to come down. Goddamn miracle it hasn't already; my daughter has been keeping up with the whole place nicely. Anyway, who are you?" "My name is Ratohnhake:ton," the younger responded almost right after Achilles finished his little spiel of the manor.

"Right." Achilles sighed, "Well, I'm not even going to try and pronounce that. Now tell me why you're here," he kept pressing the manor, wanting to have no delay about the matter involving the Brotherhood. Achilles kept watching Ratohnhake:ton as he fixed his hands on his cane, and saw the Mohawk pull out a piece of cloth filled with markings, including an Assassin symbol imbedded into it, "I was told to seek this symbol." Achilles took the cloth from the other's hands, skimming it over with a blunt expression laid across his face, "Do you even know what that symbol represents? Or what it is you're asking for?" he asked, leaning back in his chair as his gaze shifted slowly back to the other male in front of him. All he got was a simple 'no' in response, something Achilles wasn't surprised of.

"And yet here you are." "The spirit said that - That I've –" Ratohnhake:ton's frustration was showing after that, and it was obvious when he waved a hand in the air, making Achilles narrow his gaze onto him as he made him pause with a raise of a hand, "These "spirits" of yours have been harassing the Assassins for centuries. Ever since Ezio uncorked the bottle... Ah - but you don't even know what an Assassin is, do you?" Achilles paused, seeing the slight confusion in the Mohawk's face.

"Well best settle in, then. I've got a story to tell and it's gonna take a while to get it all out..."

* * *

Penelope's POV:

That was probably one of the hardest things I had to do so far when it comes to being polite – I've never been so sudden with it, and usually took my time getting the behavior to show, but I had no time for that and had to wing it. I still need practice, I know, but I hope my father could see my improvement – hopefully Ratohnhake:ton noticed my improved behavior as well! Well, now that I had to entertain myself for awhile, I went to clean the upstairs part of the manor, but finished fairly quickly since there wasn't much of a mess. Now I was sitting in my room with Haytham's hat back upon my head… It made me wonder what he could be doing, or where he was – was he with Charles Lee and his other friends, or was he taking a break from whatever their job was, and enjoying a small vacation somewhere? Sure, I don't know him _very _well, but I know him enough to see him as a friend of mine, and I do wonder about those things for my friends.

The thoughts made me recall the memories of when he was helping me buff up my fighting abilities – maybe to pass the time I could go for a Brawl down in Lexington or something! – Wait, that was too far, and no one would be outside in this rain. Never mind. "Ugh!" I groaned a loud, lying back in my bed to stare at the ceiling, thinking hard to myself, "… Maybe I could just hunt since it's always close by. Get some breakfast for the morning and cook," I said aloud to myself, and that was actually my decision. My exit involved myself climbing out my window into the nearby tree – I didn't want to waste time by going out the front door and disrupting my father's and Ratohnhake:ton's conversation – and running across many branches down to the river. I knew I'd find something to catch there, and since I had my good knives with me, I was confident and able to capture prey of some sort from the tree I would take place above.

It didn't take awfully long for me to come to the active river, but it was empty of other creatures, so I knew patience would come in handy here. The rain was bothering, and the wet branches didn't help for me to keep a stable stance anywhere, but I managed after a few adjustments to everything I was doing – what was most irritating, though, was the rain that kept getting in my face when I insisted on looking around for some type of animal. Nothing. Great, I came out here just to get soaked and see that nothing was around – or so I thought. My ears picked up on a faint yelling animal sound from afar, and it seemed like wolves were fighting with one another somewhere nearby my position in the wilderness, but either way I was going to investigate and see if I was right.

The rain was making my hair whip in my face, which annoyed me greatly, but it didn't stop me from following the sounds of the animals I was hearing. Sadly, though, as I made my way closer, I slipped on one of the branches of the trees and fell onto the wet, muddy ground below after tearing through branches and leaves, getting a few cuts and scrapes on myself. "Dammit!" I yelled, gritting my teeth – I didn't want to go any longer, really. I was stupid to come out here in the first place, but even if I wanted to just drop my intentions right now, I couldn't. A giant bear was coming my way, and I was barely able to see another bear leave in a different direction – it wasn't wolves I heard fighting, they were two huge, black, angry bears, and one was heading in my direction.

I tried to hide in near bushes as I learned from Achilles and even Haytham, but it didn't work. First of all, there were no bushes, and second of all, the bear had already spotted me and was roaring at me, coming at me with an angry charge. With a yell, my form jumped out of its way, and even though my legs were muddy and cut up, with cloth hanging from the tears I received on my fall, my legs managed to pick me up and rush out towards a safer place than where I was now. The bear kept tight on my tail, and the more I ran, the more I realized how messed up I was. My arms were starting to hurt more and I was growing more weary – dammit, why now? Why the fuck does it have to be now that I get practically knocked out of energy? After what seemed forever, though, I lost the bear, and found the manor with the last bit of energy I had left.

Thank God.

* * *

No one's POV:

"... and so this is why the Assassins have dedicated themselves to the pursuit of the Templars. Because if they succeed - your spirit's visions will become reality." Achilles finished, his expression staying as calm as it was the whole story. It was out - the story between the Assassins and Templars, and now this Mohawk youngster was informed on the whole manner, "Then I will stop them." The Native had determination in his eyes, and confidence that dwelled even farther in his hues, but it was all shot down a little with the tone Achilles had in his voice when he responded, "Oh, I have no doubt you'll try," he said, getting up from his chair with the help of his wooden cane.

"Come on, I've something to show you." Ratohnhake:ton followed Achilles, the man who was making his way to the hall, "Careful. Wasn't a joke when I said this place was coming apart," Achilles said, but before Ratohnhake:ton could respond, Penelope came through the door only to collapse by the front door as she closed it behind her, "Penelope, why on earth were you out in that kind of weather?" Achilles questioned in a stern tone, going over to the female as Ratohnhake:ton tailed behind. Penelope was covered in mud, soaked, and had scrapes and cuts all over her arms and knees, "I _was_ going to find food, but y'know… Technical difficulties," Penelope breathed before letting her eyes droop, "I'll take a nap here and wash up afterwards. Go do your thing." "No, you will not sleep in a place like this—" "Fuck off, Ratohnhake:ton," Penelope smiled, then closed her eyes. She was out like a candle – needing her nap from the sudden episode she experienced. Ratohnhake:ton wasn't surprised something like that happened – she was always one to search for trouble, so he gave Achilles a look as if to let her be.

Achilles sighed, finally giving in to the proposal, and they continued their way down the hall, "So, why don't you repair your manor?" "Penelope has been slowly repairing it, but she will soon leave. There's no point after that, besides – I haven't the materials." "So buy them," the younger male insisted, causing Achilles to become slightly irritated, "Look at me! You think I can just march into some store, purse full of pounds, and go shopping?" Achilles snapped, looking over his shoulder at Ratohnhake:ton as the stopped at the end of the hall besides a vacant wall.

"Yes. Why not?" Achilles sighed, pulling on a candle holder than opened a secret door to a basement that was under the manor, "So naïve… Now, this way."

* * *

Penelope woke up not long after she fell asleep – the sudden event out in the rain seemed to wear her out more than she thought. Maybe she wasn't cut out to do intense activity like that after all, but she knew that one time wasn't going to stop her from doing what she wanted. After a few minutes of sitting in the same spot, Penelope got herself to her feet and looked at the mud that was on the floor, "Great, I'll clean that later," she told herself, then reached up to scratch her head, feeling the dried mud in her hair, "Wait… dry mud…?" she trailed, feeling her head more specifically – she had lost Haytham's hat out in the rain when she fell and ran away from the bear that had attacked her. Panic started to swell up inside her stomach, creating a heavy pit of dread in her body overall – where could she possibly find it in that rain? She didn't even know where she fell from the trees, but how would she find it even if she _did_ happen to find where she fell and it wasn't there? Adrenaline started to pump through her head as she paced in circles, because she knew she had to find that hat – Haytham probably wouldn't forgive her if she lost it!

Something that never helped – Penelope was told from her father many times since she was a child – was to panic or over-react. It sent things downhill, no matter what. "I have to retrace my steps… I have too," she whispered, trembling under her breath. Penelope didn't want to lose a friend over a hat, but she was over-reacting and didn't know _what_ could happen. She rushed down the hall towards the back door, but as she did so, she heard Achilles and Ratohnhake:ton talking and coming up some stairs which made her take a brief look towards them. _A basement? Since when was there a basement here? _She asked herself before giving a slight wave and running out the back door. She had to take note of those stairs and investigate the matter later on that was one thing she knew she would do for sure.

* * *

The rain didn't help. The mud and animals that were in some areas didn't help at all, either. Penelope was beyond soaked once more, and after a good hour or so, she finally found where she had fallen earlier on. It was a bit obvious due to the foot marks and bear tracks spread about – it was positive it was where she fell once she found the small pieces of cloth from her pants and shirt in the mud. After searching through everything, even the branches of where she fell and hit on the way down, she couldn't find the hat. It was probably found by an animal and taken away, or even worse, taken by a lost traveler – something that would make it harder to find. Penelope couldn't help but let her frustration out on the nearest tree, slashing at it with her knife, but she knew it wouldn't help in any way.

"I'm so _stupid_!" she yelled, not thinking straight what-so-ever – if Penelope was able to think like herself, she was never one to truly say that to herself with meaning. After a while of taking her frustration and anger out on the tree, she heard her name being called out - Ratohnhake:ton was looking for her, and she eventually saw his tall form come towards her. Guess she was pretty loud when yelling, then. "_**Penelope,**_ what are you doing!?" he questioned, "What is your purpose for being out here again!? You will get ill if you are out here any longer!" he yelled, causing Penelope to face him and step up to him as if she were being faced and challenged upon.

"I will do what I wish! I _have_ to find that hat, and I will **not l**eave without finding it!" she insisted, causing Ratohnhake:ton to become confused for a moment. What hat? He had seen no hat of hers that day, but soon after brushed that off – he would help her either way. This weather wasn't a time to search for the hat, though, "You will find it, but not now! The gods are not helping you in anyway, so let us go back inside until the sun is out!" He didn't take no as an answer, and just grabbed Penelope, tossing her smaller form over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes or of the sort. Her kicking and yelling didn't make it any easier for him to bring Penelope back to the manor, but Ratohnhake:ton didn't let her go until they were inside and Achilles made sure she wouldn't leave until the weather was better and the sky was light – the next day.

Once Penelope was calmed down and Ratohnhake:ton had made sure she understood where he and Achilles were coming from, Achilles came to her from upstairs and gave her a towel and a small smile. She took the towel, and didn't make any more outbursts even though she felt uneasy about waiting till the next day to search again.

"Go wash up and we will all search for that hat tomorrow."

"… Fine. Thank you, Dad. Ratohnhake:ton."

* * *

Ratohnhake:ton's POV:

Penelope was obviously impatient by the way her facial expression was, and how she went upstairs in a fashion that was beyond from her normal state. It was odd to me how she was so upset and uneasy about this… hat of hers, it made me rather curious – I proposed to ask of it later when we were to start our search for the piece of attire, "I don't think she'll get much sleep if she keeps that attitude up…" I heard the old man trail, turning to me with his dark eyes staring into mine – something about him seemed as if he were greatly bothered with a worry, but I didn't insist on asking.

"Let us go upstairs - I will show you where you can sleep for now." He headed up the stairs, so I obediently followed suit. I was led down the hall into another bedroom, "You may sleep here – I will be sleeping on the first floor across from the kitchen, if you need anything. Penelope is on the door to the right when you come up the stairs. Good night."

"Thank you, Achilles."

* * *

No one's POV:

The next morning was rather cool with a light fog making its way through the trees of the Davenport Homestead. Penelope was up first out of the three living in the manor, and she was pacing in the dining room with food on the table for each individual. It was a simple meal: fruits, potatoes, and fresh milk from the farmers who settled around the Homestead not too long ago. She was worrying if she would find Kenway's hat or not, and where she would even begin to look – maybe a traveler found it and took it to some other colony? Maybe it's somewhere down the river, she didn't know, and the fact of not knowing agitated her greatly.

Ratohnhake:ton was the next to wake, and he quietly came into the dining room to see the younger female making rounds around the table, thinking to herself and not even noticing his entrance in the slightest. In response to the act, Ratohnhake:ton cleared his throat, seeing her look up in his direction as she stopped in her tracks, obviously hearing the sound he created, "Oh. I didn't notice you there," she mused before turning to face the table, "I uh… made breakfast for everyone. Sorry for the lack of meat, I was going to get some last night but obviously that… didn't go too well," she explained before looking back at her friend who was giving her a warm, small smile in response to her explanation.

"Not to worry, Penelope. Achilles should come soon, as well, for I heard him as I came down the stairs," he responded, sitting at one of the ends of the dining table where a plate of food had made its stay. Penelope was watching him closely as he sat down, but as she did so, her thoughts returned back to Haytham and his hat – she was starting to lose her appetite due to the ideas that kept forming, so she didn't even wait for her father to come. She just started to eat once she sat down in her seat. Ratohnhake:ton waited, though, and once Achilles came into the room, he just sat down by Ratohnhake:ton and started his meal with the Native. "Good morning," Achilles said, watching Penelope scarf her food down. His remark, however, created a pause in her actions as she gazed up at him.

"Mornehfb," she muffled through a mouthful of food. Ratohnhake:ton chuckled, eating his meal, and silence only came after – Achilles let the act slip by, but he knew Penelope knew better than to speak like so. The meal consisted of silence for the rest of the passing minutes, but once everyone was done, the job of the day came to its start; Penelope cleaned the dining table of everyone's plates and rushed into the kitchen, then put on her usual boots before quickening towards the door. However, Ratohnhake:ton stopped her by pulling on her arm and making her face him, "Wait for your father, Penelope. We must have a plan of action if you want to efficiently find your hat," he insisted, giving a solid stare at the shorter one.

Penelope, being her stubborn self, was about to protest and tug away at Ratohnhake:ton's arm, but she didn't and just sighed, letting her arm become limp as her friend let her go with a nod of his head. Soon enough, Achilles came to the two and they all exited the manor together, "Okay, now that we're all here, what's the plan?" Penelope asked in an anxious tone, looking at the two males, "Let's just split up and go look everywhere, yes?" "No. You two will search in places I am no longer able to go due to my… age, and I will search near the river banks and around traveling areas. Penelope, do not get ahead of yourself, and do not panic – we will find your… friend's hat," Achilles explained, shooing them off.

He didn't need say anything else for Penelope was already rushing into the trees – she decided to start her search where she did last night. Where she fell. Ratohnhake:ton followed suit, but was now filled with questions as to who's hat they were looking for, "Penelope, wait!" he called after as he followed her into the trees and across the dry branches. Penelope heard the man, but didn't respond for she would when they were at the first stop. It took a while, but once Penelope finally felt they were in the area of where she was attacked by the bear, she jumped down onto the ground and let Ratohnhake:ton catch up. "You gotta learn to keep up, Dozy," she chuckled, causing her friend to give a roll of his eyes as he approached her and rounded to get in front of her confident stance, "Okay, Pen," he paused, "Now, I request you answer my question. Whose hat are we looking for, and why is it so important? I thought it was just a hat you got for fun." "Why does it matter? It's an important hat, and I will not stop looking for it until I'm proved to that it's gone forever. Besides, I have questions too – why are you here? Why do you want to train with my father? See. We both have questions for one another, so we'll leave that for _after_ we find the hat. " And that was how it would be. Penelope was going to make sure her questions were answered just as much as Ratohnhake:ton wanted his questions answered as well.

The two ended up looking in many places, even in places where the hat realistically wouldn't be at. Penelope felt at ease with it, though, and wanted to cover as much ground as possible – the two close companions ended up looking far into the end of the day. The sun was setting, giving the Homestead the appearance of oranges and yellows in the bright sky – the river was glimmering, and the animals were starting to become a little more active once more like the morning hours of this particular day. Penelope was filled with barely any hope by now when it came to finding Haytham's hat – she was positive her friendship with him was completely dead, considering she felt his hat was very meaningful to him.

By these hours, Ratohnhake:ton and Penelope were walking along the rocky cliffs and walls, slowly coming to a close for their search just as Achilles was nearby the manor's stables. "We tried our best, Pen. There is not much more we could do." "I know. I just…" Penelope sighed, looking back over her shoulder to the older male, "I just thought if I put enough effort into looking for it, that I'd find it. Childish thought, I know, but no one said I couldn't think that way," she finished, but before she could say anything more, about to announce her defeat, Ratohnhake:ton ran off ahead of her and disappeared through the bushes. "Oi, Ratohnhake:ton! Where are you going!?" she asked, raising her voice as she ran after him and confusion building up inside. For a few moments, she was unable to find the Mohawk, but with a little more observation of what lay ahead of her, she found him chasing something – a fox that seemed to be fleeing to its home.

A good few minutes flew bye, and once Ratohnhake:ton stopped, Penelope came to a stop as well, walking up to him, "What's so special about the fox that you had to chase it this long?" she huffed, looking around him to see the small cave the fox ran into, "That creature had a hat in its mouth." Penelope didn't need to hear anything else, she got onto her knees and poked her head into the small cave – _dammit, it's too dark_, she thought, pulling out of the den. She got out a small rock from her pocket, though, and scraped it against the rock wall to create a spark. It took a few tries to get the spark to land on the stick she was holding, but once she got it, she carefully made her way into the small den again. Expecting to find the lone fox with Haytham's hat, Penelope actually came to see small offspring of the fox lying on – what do you know – Haytham's hat, with the bigger momma fox sitting around it.

"Ah, damn. Y'know, if this hat wasn't special, I'd let you keep it, but I need it," Penelope said aloud as if the animals would understand her. After a second of thought, Penelope crawled out of the small cave, then looked up at Ratohnhake:ton who was waiting for her, "Got anything soft?" she asked, smiling at the confusion the male had shown on his face for a mere second. Then, he took out a few feathers he carried with him, and handed it to her. _**Good enough**_. Penelope made her way back into the condensed living space of the beauteous creature, and started to move the small babies off Haytham's hat – sadly, it didn't go as smooth as she would've liked. A bite from the mother was something she was going to keep from this experience, but luckily it was all she got before she fled from the cave with the hat she was searching for the whole day. The feathers weren't as solid as the hat she had just got back, but it would be a good enough substitute for now until the mother of the cubs was to find something else.

"Got it!" Penelope cheered, getting up to her feet as she showed the hat to Ratohnhake:ton with a smile beamed across her face. Ratohnhake:ton's face, however, showed differently, and Penelope found out why when she looked at the hat. It was muddy and covered in stray pieces of grass and fur. "…Great. Well, let's go," she muttered. She had to wash it, and Penelope would do it at that moment to get it over with, so the two made their way down to the river the easiest route they knew of. It didn't take long, and the sun was slowly setting in the far distance as the two sat down by the running water. As Penelope started to clean Haytham's hat, though, she remembered the previous conversation Ratohnhake:ton and her had about their questions, "So, what are you doing here?" she asked in a casual tone, sensing she caught the man off guard.

"I am here because spirits have warned me of the future." "Spirits…?" "Yes. They have told me my people and our village will be destroyed once again, and this time – for good," Ratohnhake:ton explained, "Wait. Wait, _again?_" Penelope asked, looking back at Ratohnhake:ton this time with a near-broken expression. Was that where the smoke had come from? "Yes, men came into the village and burned it down, I thought you were there without my knowing, avoiding me, and that you were kil—" "Who came to the village!? Who burned it down!?" Penelope was now standing on her feet, facing Ratohnhake:ton with tears running down her face – this was something she never wanted to happen.

Before Ratohnhake:ton could answer, however, Penelope raised a hand as if to pause him. She herself came to a conclusion – Edward Braddock came before she could stop him with the aid of Haytham Kenway. The two were sure that earlier in the winter, Braddock would attack in the early spring. Seems not, considering the village was already destroyed but a week ago. It didn't take long for Penelope to compose herself, and once she did, she sat back down and continued cleaning Haytham's hat, "So, you came to train with my father to hopefully seek the end of these men who thrive to destroy us completely, I'm assuming. I shall go do my own task to find the end of the man who led the raid, and you can continue your own mission to find whoever else you're after," she explained, then remembered his questions.

"This hat, as you wanted to know, is important because it belongs to a new friend of mine. He seems like a good man, and I hope to keep a solid friendship with him. Losing his hat would surely break that goal, though, so that's why I sought to find it at whatever the cost." Ratohnhake:ton watched Penelope as she finished washing the hat that was now clean and soaked. It had to dry, "So, whose is it?" he asked, seeing as Penelope didn't respond to that. He recognized the hat, though, for some reason, but didn't know why.

"It's Haytham Kenway's hat, and he's helped me in many things."

* * *

Haytham's hat? After Penelope said that, and before Ratohnhake:ton could warn her about the Templar Grand Master, she was off towards the manor to go dry the hat on the porch and get some food to eat. No wonder he recognized the piece of attire, it was in the painting of Kenway that he saw when Achilles showed him the targets of his future! Charles Lee was indeed one of the main targets of Ratohnhake:ton's, considering he was one of the men who destroyed his home not long ago, but Mister Haytham Kenway was the big dog. The Grand Master. The one holding the whole Order together. There was no way Ratohnhake:ton could let Penelope get close to the Grand Master, especially when he was the enemy against what he had just recently begun to train for – the Brotherhood.

Ratohnhake:ton came home to the manor not long after Penelope, and after a quick dinner, he went to search for her in her room, wanting to confront her about the matter. Once in front of the female's door, he knocked twice, and came in to see Penelope writing at her desk, "Penelope, we must talk." "Go ahead. Speak, Dozy," Penelope mused in return, not bothering to look up at her friend. Even though Ratohnhake:ton was unaware of many things, he knew some things to be true from his first learning from Achilles, "You said that hat belongs to Kenway. He is your friend, but you are **blind **– he is a bad man. A Templar, and he seeks to _destroy_ and control our village and land **just** as much as the man who led the raid, the one you seek. His friend, Charles Lee, was there as well – he _killed _innocent people! Why do you insist on thinking otherwise, what did Kenway do to you as to make you think the opposite of what I say?"

This, for some reason, made Penelope's temper run short. Yes, Penelope didn't know Haytham very well as compared to Ratohnhake:ton, but she saw him as a nice man as far as she knew, and was just as willing to defend him as much as she would Ratohnhake:ton. The girl rose from her chair, and stepped up to Ratohnhake:ton with a firm and strong stance, trying to get to his level – her eyes narrowed, and she glared right into his dark hues, "A _Templar_? What are you – …Ugh, You may think he's a bad man, and that it's all his fault, but just because Charles Lee was there, doesn't mean it's Haytham's fault! He's a good man, and you don't have the right to say any better! He helped me learn how to behave properly – sure, I still need practice, but at least I'm fucking _trying_! He was going to _help_ me **stop t**he man who led to the burning of our village, but we didn't get there in time! Stop thinking it's entirely his fault! What if Charles wasn't even there, huh!? What if you were fucking _stupid_ enough to mistake a man for Lee instead!? Erg, seriously! Just…" she paused, taking a deep breath. Penelope wasn't really thinking clearly anymore.

"Just get out!" she finally yelled, not knowing of what else to say. She pushed Ratohnhake:ton out of her room, stuck her tongue out at him, then slammed the door into his face, screaming in frustration as he stopped her from closing the door completely, "Penelope, be wise and listen to me! It is dangerous for you to be-friend those people, **especially** Lee and Kenway! Please, I am your friend much longer than anyone, why won't you heed my words!?" Ratohnhake:ton insisted. The yelling, however, was heard by Achilles now, and he was getting just as worried as Ratohnhake:ton was. He was afraid Penelope would be corrupted by the Templars, or worse, become a target by either the Assassins or the Order. Now that Ratohnhake:ton was beginning his training to end the Templar's control, he knew Penelope would eventually meet her time of involvement in this war.

"Leave me be, seriously! _**Fuck off!**_ I will be friends with who I wish! Besides, who are _you_ to say **any** of this!? I bet you took out all of this from your _ass _and made it up after what Braddock did to our village! Leave me alone!" That was the end of it, Penelope opened the door a little, then slammed it hard on Ratohnhake:ton's foot, finally getting the door to close all the way when the male fled his foot away. After the door was closed, Penelope got her chair and put it under the door handle – she needed time to herself, without anyone bothering her anymore. Really, Ratohnhake:ton just came into her room and made bad comments about her newest _friend_? That made her furious for some reason, but she didn't take the time to think clearly about it. It didn't matter to her at the moment.

All she needed was sleep, and once she was in bed for the night, she had a nightmare of Lee, Kenway, and all the others.

* * *

"You know, she is unaware of anything involving the Templars and the Assassins. My goal was to keep her away from all of it for her life time, but apparently it's unavoidable at this moment. I do hope you are the first to teach her about everything, and not Haytham… I fear she will become corrupted, and become something neither of us want," Achilles explained quietly as he approached Ratohnhake:ton's bed side. He had came to have a small talk with the male before bed, considering he and Penelope's conversation – banter – didn't go too well, "I hope I will have a chance to tell her what I know, Achilles. She might avoid me for a while after what I said to her. She seems to really think Kenway and Lee are good people." "She is oblivious to the Truth, boy. Of course she would only see well from them – she had never seen them kill _innocent _people, only redcoats and people who deserve to die, even in her eyes. Just make sure she is led down the right path, if I can't do anything about it. I trust you with her…" Achilles paused, turning to leave the room,

"Good night, then."

* * *

That night was quiet – everyone was asleep, and Penelope was awakened by her nightmare. No screams, but sweat was running down her forehead as she sat up in her bed – shocked at what her mind had created in her world of sleep and imagination. She needed a walk, that was for sure, but Penelope didn't have any intentions of waking anyone else up. Angry at Ratohnhake:ton, and not wanting to wake up her old man, she quietly removed the chair that was still under the knob of her door – opening the door just as silently afterwards. The way down the stairs was a bit more difficult, considering the whole manor was still quite old even after adjustments, but she made it down with time. The journey through the dark manor made her curious, though, now that she remembered what had happen a good two days before.

The basement where she saw Ratohnhake:ton and Achilles come up from – where was it? Her footsteps padded their way to the end of the hall, quietly making its way to where she saw the basement last. _I hope Achilles doesn't wake,_ she thought to herself as she felt the solid white walls in the corner she was in; surely the entrance was here, but how is it gone all of a sudden? After a bit of deductive thought, Penelope finally came to the conclusion that it was a **secret** door – something she, or anyone else, wasn't allowed to see. That made her hands travel along the walls more, searching for anything that could spark the door to open. Nothing. On the verge of giving up, Penelope looked up at the candle holder up above her, and smiled to herself – like the stories she read, that could probably open the door. She thought it stupid, but didn't hesitate to try just in case.

Well, what did she know? A thump noise was faintly heard, and the door in the wall slowly slid open, lighting a small smile upon Penelope's face – this was what she was going to investigate for the night to keep her mind off of negative thoughts given by Ratohnhake:ton. She made her way down the wooden, creaking stairs, and let her feet feel the cold cement at the bottom; what interested her was the suit of armour in the middle of the basement. As she approached it and touched the fabric, Penelope let her gaze wander across the whole room.

Then, she saw portraits of the specific people she knew. Haytham Kenway, Charles Lee, John Pitcairn, Benjamin Church, Thomas Hickey, and William Johnson. She was in awe at the pictures, and now knew how her best friend knew of them – Achilles knew of them just as well, maybe even entirely more than she knew_. So, I wonder what he meant by Haytham being a what? Templar? Maybe that means they all are, but what is that supposed to mean? …It's probably just a stupid Regular thing. _Even though Ratohnhake:ton clearly saw them all as evil, or whatever he thought, Penelope didn't want to take sides until she was aware of what was going on.

Something was going on that she wasn't aware of, and she had a feeling Achilles had been hiding it from her this whole time – he knew something. Though, it didn't matter to her anymore. Surely Haytham would know something of it, right? So, that was what she would ask. Besides, she had a job to do – avenge her village and make sure Braddock would pay the consequence. Haytham kept his word to help.

So, Penelope left the basement, headed up the stairs to her room, and started to pack the small things she would surely need. Knives, bait, money, arrows, snares, shot powder, a pistol, and her horse whistle she had gotten from Ratohnhake:ton. Once she had those things, she got Haytham's hat that was slightly damp, made sure she had the feathers from Ratohnhake:ton in her hair, put Haytham's hat on her head, then head out towards her window. Though, just as she was about to climb out, she heard a voice she didn't want to hear that night.

"Going out for a stroll with all your things, Penelope?"

* * *

**I made this chapter a tad longer to make up for the stretch of time without updates! Family events took my time with homework floating behind, so I had to take care of that first! Anyway, I hope you like the update, I encourage reviews and all of that stuff! Predictions? **

**Hope your holidays have been great, loves, and I shall see you all in chapter tweleve!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

As of today, the tenth of January 2013, I have decided to put this fanfiction off. I am doing it for the sake of myself and others, but mainly for myself. I am aware my writing isn't the best out of the bunch, and that there are a lot of faults; I am aware that I'm not _ready_ to write a story, and even when I tried, I really couldn't handle it.

I want my first fanfiction to be great. Sure it won't be the best anyone's seen, but **a lot** better than what I've been out before this very 'chapter'. Not just 'meh' or 'okay', I want it to be a _good_ fanfiction that people will recommend to others and actually like. However, I am not even close to that stage, and I have a long ways to go. From elementary school to today, the beginning of the road of high school, my teachers always made English confusing. So, I have made the decision to take writing classes outside of school along with the reading I do, and I hope to thrive and improve to heights beyond of what I expect to do.

Apologizes to those who honestly liked this fanfiction, but this is what I want to do. Deal with it, and it will be worth it in the end, hopefully.

I shall see you all in due time with much more preferable writing.

- Rei


End file.
